iPromise You
by Princess-Warrior 17
Summary: It was a warm, sunny Saturday in Seattle when a promise was made between two people. Two kids, both age seven, made a promise that would bind them together forever. They have had ups and downs in their relationship since then, but Freddie and Sam can never forget that day and the words exchanged. Rated T, just in case. Probably a 6 or 7 chapter story.
1. Chap 1: First Meetings and Impressions

**Author's Note:  
**

_Hey, I'm back! Thanks to all the people that reviewed my first story, iMake You Warm! It really means a lot to me. Before getting an account, I didn't really get why reviews made people so happy, but I totally get it now. Every time I get one, I smile :) _

_Here's my second story for you guys. It's probably going to be a 4 or 5 chapter one. Each chapter is going to be pretty long, so be prepared to read a lot. __ Please let me know what you think._  


_If anyone wants to PM about the story, story suggestions, or whatever else, go ahead. I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.  
_

**Disclaimer: **_  
_

_Sadly, Dan Schneider still owns iCarly. If only he'd give it to me..._**  
**

**iPromise You**

**Chapter 1: First Meetings and Impressions **

The first time Freddie Benson laid eyes on Samantha Puckett was a moment he knew he would never forget. And no, their first meeting wasn't when he moved into the apartment across from Carly Shay. They had met way before that, at the age of seven.

By simply meeting and exchanging a few words that day, they sealed their fates, bonding them together forever.

* * *

It was a warm, sunny Saturday in Seattle when Freddie and his mom decided to head to the beach. Mrs. Benson knew her son was itching to spend the day out in the sun, so with a little convincing from her husband, she agreed. Unfortunately, Mr. Benson couldn't join them because of an overload of work.

With two bottles of sunscreen, anti-bacterial spray, bug spray, a lawn chair, multiple hats, and a picnic basket full of health food, Mrs. Benson placed a swim-suit clad Freddie in his car seat and off they went to the beach.

When they arrived, Mrs. Benson unloaded all of their things, putting them in a shaded area. She sprayed him relentlessly, set a hat on his head, and fed him food before they left their spot.

She held tightly onto her son's hand as they walked together across the soft sand. Freddie loved the feel of it between his toes, but he was more interested in the water.

"Mama, can I go play in the water?" he asked, pointing to it.

Mrs. Benson smiled, patting him on the head.

"Now, Freddiebear. You have to be careful! That water can be dangerous if you go in too far. You'll only be safe if you stay on the edge."

"So does that mean I can play?" His voice sounded so eager that his mom really couldn't say no.

"Yes, Freddie. But please stay close to the edge! I'll be right over here, okay?" She gestured to their area, which was only a few feet away. "I'll come and get you in a little bit, you hear me?"

Freddie nodded, his brown eyes sparkling.

"Oh, thank you, Mama!" He wrapped his arms around his mom's leg, beaming with happiness.

She laughed, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Go before your time's up, sweetie."

He immediately took off for the water. Before reaching it, he ran into someone, and knocked both of them over.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, dork!" the other person shouted.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry," he responded, voice trembling.

Freddie got up and offered his hand to the person he ran into. He realized he was looking at young girl who seemed the same age as him. She scowled and swat his hand away.

"I don't need your help," she growled, getting up by herself.

It was that moment that Freddie Benson felt his heart jump in his chest. His eyes took in the sight of the girl with long blonde curls and bright blue eyes. She wore a fluttery purple dress, instead of a swimming suit. On her feet were small golden sandals.

"Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?" She sounded impatient as she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Freddie.

"N-no. I'm s-sorry again. I didn't mean it," he whimpered.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That's what they all say."

Even though this girl had caught Freddie's eye, she still scared the crap out of him. He nervously scratched the back of his neck, searching for something to say.

"My name's Freddie Benson, by the way."

He stuck out his hand for a handshake, knowing that's what adults did when they introduced each other.

The girl ignored his hand for a second time. "Freddie? Is that short for something?"

His cheeks suddenly turned a pale pink. He hated his full name. It just sounded so…dorky.

"Um, yeah. My real name is Fredward," he mumbled, looking down at the ground out of embarrassment.

"Hahaha! That's so bad!" She laughed loudly, clutching her tiny tummy.

"It's not my fault my Mama named me that."

His bottom lip poked out and he felt a familiar warmth in his eyes. He tried his hardest not to cry, but this girl was just so mean!

She sensed that he was upset so she stopped laughing. However, she didn't apologize.

"Shhh…don't cry, Freddie. Your name's just really funny, that's all. I have a weird last name, if it makes you feel better. I'm Sam Puckett."

"Puckett? That _is_ kinda different." Freddie wiped at his eyes and small smile spread on his lips.

"Mhhm. But my first name's Sam."

"Is Sam short for Samantha?"

She took a step closer and raised her fist. Right away, Freddie knew he had said something wrong.

"You call me that and you're dead meat. Got it?" she threatened.

He gulped, taking a step back. "Yeah, I got it."

Her demeanor changed once she heard what she wanted to hear. A smirk graced her features. "Good. So what are you doing at the beach, Freddie?"

"My Mama brought me. She thought I needed a day outside, so she drove us over here. Daddy's at home working, but Mama said she was free. She's even letting me go play in the water!"

"You're such a nub." Sam laughed again, but not in a cruel manner.

"What's a nub?"

"It's cross between a dork and nerd. You've never been to the beach before to play in the water?"

He shook his head. "Nope. This is my first time. I've been to the beach once before, when I was six. I'm seven now. Anyway, I'm really excited!"

"You get excited over the smallest things. I've been the beach hundreds of times. And every time I'm in the water."

"Do you go alone? Where's your Mama? Or your Daddy?"

Freddie noticed how Sam's bright eyes darkened briefly.

"My mom usually just drops me off. She knows I won't go too far away from here. Dad isn't with us anymore." The last sentence came out softer than the rest.

Freddie's eyes widened. "Did he die?"

"No. He left my family," she spat out.

A gasp escaped his lips. "W-what? He left and is never coming back? Oh, Sam. I'm so sorry!"

Her jaw suddenly tightened and before she could stop herself, she shoved him on the ground.

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me! I'm a tough girl. I'm handling it just fine," she barked at him.

"Sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to make you mad again."

A couple of tears escaped Freddie's eyes. His cheeks turned red at how babyish he was being. He hated making this girl upset, but acting like a crybaby was even worse. He couldn't help being emotional because his mother said that it was okay for boys to be sensitive.

"Aw, you're crying again. I know that it shocks you my dad left. I get that, okay? But you really don't need to feel bad for me. I'm fine," she sighed.

He didn't say anything in response, just stood there while tears continued to roll down his cheeks.

Sam sighed again and reached out with her hand. With her knuckles, she touched his face, wiping a few of the tears away.

"I'm sorry, Fredward." She pulled away from him, so there was more space between them.

"It's okay." He smiled at her as the tears stopped flowing.

"Just so you know, I'm never gonna say sorry again. I don't apologize. Pucketts don't do that," she explained, laughing slightly.

"Okay, Sam. I won't expect another one," Freddie laughed with her.

Sam shifted her gaze to the ocean. "So…I'll race you the water's edge. The first one there doesn't have to pick up a slimy sea creature and play with it. The loser does. Got it?"

"Oh, you're so on!"

"On the count of three. One…two…three!"

Sam shot right out in front of Freddie, running as fast as her little legs could carry her. As soon as she reached the water's edge, she leaned over, hands on her knees, breathing heavily. She looked up and found Freddie a few paces behind her. A large smile appeared on her lips when she realized she won.

Once Freddie caught up to Sam, he collapsed on the soft sand, panting.

"Sam, how'd you do that? You're really fast!"

She shrugged. "I've always been fast. I was in soccer for a couple of years. But then I quit because the girls on my team got on my nerves."

"You really aren't like other girls," he wheezed out.

"And don't you ever forget it. C'mon, Fredward. You lost so you gotta play with a slimy animal."

She smirked, bending down to pick up something that would gross the boy out. It seemed like it wouldn't be too hard, judging by how sensitive he was.

Freddie's lips curved into a frown. "Do I really have to do this?" he whined.

"Yup!"

He could see her eyes light up when her hand touched something. She pulled it out, wrapping her fingers around it.

"This is perfect. Okay, now all you have to do is let it crawl on you for a bit, okay?"

"Eww! That's so gross, Sam. I don't wanna do this." He pouted, pointing at the creature.

"It's just snail, Freddie. It's not that gross." She shoved it in his hand without another word.

"I can't believe this girl," Freddie muttered, taking the snail and placing it on his arm. A disgusted expression crossed his face at the contact.

"Ah! Your face is priceless!" Sam snickered.

"How long do I have to do this?"

"Until you can't take it anymore."

"Are you challenging me?"

The snail continued to crawl up his arm as he grimaced, trying not to think of all the germs that this thing was spreading. Like his mother, he hated feeling dirty and germy.

"Pssh," she scoffed. "It's not a challenge because you'll lose."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh, you're on. I bet this snail can stay on me for 10 minutes."

She laughed. "Yeah, right. I bet you can't last another minute. Your face says it all."

True to her word, Freddie couldn't handle the feel of the snail anymore. He squirmed, trying to get it off. It clung onto him to the point where he had to jump around until it eventually fell off. His face reflected that same disgusted look from before, which made Sam chuckle at her victory.

"See? Told you. No one ever says a Puckett is wrong."

"Why do you have to be so…ugh?" Freddie groaned.

"Wow, you're really good with your words, Benson." She rolled her eyes.

"You know what I meant," he snapped back, sitting down.

"Whatever."

She sat down next to him on the wet sand. The bottom of her purple dress instantly got soaked, which didn't seem to bother her. Freddie noticed this, and being the curious boy that he was, had to mention it to her.

"Sam, why are you wearing a dress? Shouldn't you be in a swimming suit?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I didn't want to wear a stupid dress to the beach. I wanted to wear my blue swim suit, but my sis—"she paused and then continued.

"My _mom_ said that I should wear a dress instead. She likes me being girly, which is dumb because I'm not. Whatever. It was easier to go along with it than to fight about it."

"Oh, okay. Well if it helps, you look kinda good in a dress," he said shyly.

Her cheeks flushed pink before she turned to him, socking him the arm.

"Ow! What was that for? I just gave you a compliment." He rubbed his arm and frowned at her.

"I do _not_ look good in a dress. You don't have to pretend."

"I wasn't pretending. It's true."

She rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile. His comment actually flattered her, but she'd never admit it. Still, it felt kind of nice for someone to notice that she looked pretty for once.

"Whatever you say, nub."

It continued on like that for awhile. They sat together and just talked as the gentle waves lapped around them. Neither kid could remember a time before this where they had shared so much about themselves.

Freddie learned that Sam was a tomboy, loved meat products of any kind, thought school was boring, and could beat any boy around her age in arm wrestling.

Sam found out that Freddie had a crazy but caring mother and busy but loving dad. He also loved playing on computers and hated the health food his mom fed him.

They told each other stories about what their lives were like and couldn't help the laughs and smiles that passed between them.

Both Sam and Freddie felt a connection that they had never felt before. They weren't really social around other kids because Freddie was too shy and Sam was too abrasive. But together, they seemed to make it work.

It was about half an hour later when Mrs. Benson came up to Freddie. She grabbed his little hand in hers, making him stand up. Sam quickly stood up as well.

"It's time to go, Freddiebear. I hope you've had a good time at the beach," she said, giving him a smile.

Sam couldn't help but laugh at his nickname, causing Freddie to glance at her to roll his eyes.

"Mama, can I have a minute?" he asked quietly.

After the words left his mouth, Mrs. Benson turned to the blonde haired girl standing next to him.

"Oh my goodness. You've been talking to a girl this whole time! My, my. My baby is growing up fast!" she cooed.

"Mama! Please stop being so embarrassing." He tried to cover up his red face with his other hand.

She completely ignored him and spoke directly to the girl. "Hello, there. I'm Freddie's mom, as you might have guessed. Who are you, sweetheart?"

Sam had to fight the urge to scowl at the woman. She _hated_ being called sweetheart. She hated being called anything other than Sam.

"I'm Sam. Freddie and I just met."

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Samantha. My, that's a lovely name."

This time she couldn't help but feel her lips tug into a frown. "Mrs. Benson, it's Sam. No one calls me Samantha. Not even my mom."

Mrs. Benson laughed, brushing off Sam's comment. "Alright, dear. Where's your mother anyway? She should be keeping an eye on you. There are so many germs, bugs, and dangerous things at the beach. It's not a place for a young girl to be alone."

Sam internally sighed. She really didn't want to tell this stranger about her home life. She hadn't even talked to Freddie about it. So she did what Pucketts do best: lie.

"She's actually getting something from the car right now. She'll be back soon. I think she went to go get a beach towel for me."

Freddie stared at Sam, realizing that she had just told a lie. She glared at him, which shut him up. With only the use of her eyes, she communicated to him that this wasn't the time to correct her.

"Well, okay then," Mrs. Benson said in a confused tone. She turned back to Freddie to tug on his hand.

"Honey, we have to go. Daddy's going to wonder where we are. We've spent a little longer than expected here."

"Mama, can I please have a minute to talk to Sam. Please?" he pleaded, sticking out his bottom lip for emphasis.

Mrs. Benson sighed, releasing his hand. "Alright, Freddiebear. But make it quick! I'll go and get the car. As soon as you're done, you go right into the car. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mama. Thank you!"

He hugged her legs again, which made her smile. He let go and she walked away to gather their things to put into the car.

"Wow, that's some mom you got there, Benson," Sam snickered.

"Yeah, she is pretty embarrassing," he agreed.

"So…you wanted to talk to me before you left?"

"Yup. Um, Sam? Can I ask you something?"

"As long as it's not a stupid question."

"Okay, well." He took a deep breath. "Do you wanna be friends?"

Her eyes widened slightly and her mouth opened a bit, forming an "o" shape.

"You want to be friends with _me_?" she asked in disbelief.

"Mmmhm. What's so wrong about that?"

"It's just…no one's really asked me before. I don't make a lot of friends," she muttered, looking at her feet.

"Oh, I get it. But that's the same with me. I have trouble, too."

Her head snapped up, ready to make a snarky comment about how he shouldn't feel sorry for her, but she held her tongue. He was trying to be nice to her, which was something she could at least accept without going all crazy.

"Are you sure you want to be friends with me?"

He nodded. "Of course. You're different, Sam. You're not like other girls, and that's kinda cool."

"What if you never see me again? How are we gonna be friends then?"

Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and smile lit up his face. "I got it! How about we make a promise?"

"A promise? About what?"

"What if we promise to always be friends no matter what? Even if we don't see each other again, we can always remember about this day. We won't forget that we were each other's first real friend. And if we get lucky, maybe we'll meet again someday. It could be tomorrow. You never know."

Sam looked at him, trying to figure what he was really saying. She understood, but she didn't get why this was so important. Still, the hopeful expression on Freddie's face was what got her to agree.

"Fine. I promise we'll always be friends. Happy?"

He couldn't stop the huge grin that spread across his lips.

"Yes! I'm very happy. Sam, I promise we'll always be friends, too. Shake on it?"

A devilish gleam appeared in Sam's eyes as she shook her head.

"Nope. But I will punch you." As soon as the words left her mouth, she punched his arm.

He winced, shouting, "Ow! You really gotta stop doing that!"

She laughed and patted the spot she just hit. "Freddie, if you're gonna be friends with me, you gotta learn that I hit things. It's what I do."

Groaning, he rubbed his arm. "Why do I have a feeling this is going to be a painful friendship?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she smiled. "Because it's gonna be."

"Okay, well I gotta go now. See you later, Sam."

"Bye, Freddie," she waved to him as he turned to head back to the car.

Once he was gone, Sam couldn't help the smile that her mouth formed. She squealed under her breath because _finally_, she made a friend. He might have been a total nerd, but he was _her_ nerd.

Her heart started to thump in her chest at the thought. But being a six year old tomboy, she brushed off those feelings.

One thing was for sure, she could never ever forget Fredward Benson and the magical day they had together.

* * *

What neither kid knew was that the next time they would see each other would be four years later, thanks to a girl named Carly Shay. And neither knew that their promise to always be friends would be broken for a short amount of time. But most importantly, they didn't realize those butterflies they first felt for each other would come back to haunt them.

It was their promise that bound them together from day one. Too bad neither one knew how powerful those simple words actually were.


	2. Chap 2: Let the Hate Begin

**Author's Note:  
**

_Wow, thanks for all those who reviewed! It really made me smile to read them :)_

_Here's Chapter 2 for you guys. This definitely has more drama between Sam and Freddie. Sorry, no sweet moments this time. Those come later on. Anyway, hope you like it regardless.  
_

_Oh, and to answer your question, **alwayssomewhere: **Sam and Freddie don't actually hate each other. In my mind, they've never really hated each other. Their banter started when they first met and will continue between them until they die. Sam's always been tough and Freddie, a bit sensitive. Since their personalities clash, there's going to be conflict. But I get where you're coming from. They do seem like they hate each other._

**Disclaimer: **If Dan Scheider ever feels the need to give up iCarly, he can give it to me. Until then, it's all his. _  
_

**Chapter 2: Let the Hate Begin**

"Sam, there's a new boy moving in across the hall!" Carly Shay squealed.

Sam Puckett rolled her eyes at her best friend, chomping on her piece of bacon.

"What's your point? He's probably gonna be a five-year-old kid or something. Why are you so excited?"

"Well, _I've_ heard that he's our age. And he's going to attend Ridgeway! That's why I'm excited. He might even be cute!" Carly sighed dreamily.

"Oh, God, Carls. Don't get started on _that_. It's fine if you want to introduce yourself. But please don't throw yourself at him. It's gonna look pathetic."

Sam finished off her bacon and wiped her hands on her jeans. She plopped down on the couch, stretching out her body. Raising her arms above her head, she yawned loudly.

"C'mon, Sam. You know you're not as pessimistic about love as you think. You can't go your whole life without falling for someone."

She lifted Sam's legs so she could scoot on the couch. Once she placed herself next to her best friend, she glanced over at her. Sam stared back, sighing quietly.

"Carly, I don't believe in love, remember? I never have. Sure, there've been guys I've 'dated,' but I let them all go. Just face it, a girl like me isn't cut for the romantic stuff you're in to."

Carly shook her head. "You don't mean that. I'm sure you'll find someone someday. Everyone's got soul mate out there. All you have to do is look."

Sam's eyes wandered to the ground, instead of peering into the other girl's eyes. She couldn't look at Carly when she was being all sappy and hopeful about love. She _hated_ talking about that subject. But deep down in her heart, she hid a secret about a boy.

She had never told Carly about her beach encounter at age seven with a boy named Fredward Benson. That was the _only_ time where she felt an emotion, other than disgust, towards a boy. Even the ones she dated had repulsed her. But somehow, Freddie didn't.

It didn't matter anymore, though. She hadn't seen him in four years. He probably moved away or something. Probably left and forgot all about her. She was used to people walking out on her, so it didn't bother her.

However, she couldn't forget about _him_. As much as she wanted to, she _couldn't_.

"Hello, Sam? Earth to Sam!" Carly waved her hand in front of the blonde's face. "I think I hear the family across the hall that's moving in. We should go and say hi."

"You go ahead. I'm fine right here. Maybe I can catch up on some sleep."

"Aw, you should come with me! I don't wanna do this alone. Please for me?" Carly begged, pulling out her puppy dog eyes and lip.

Groaning, Sam stood up. "Fine. But as soon as we say hi, I'm going back to the couch to sleep. Well, first, I'll get some ham. And then I'll sleep!"

Carly laughed. "Okay. You can eat and sleep to your heart's content once we introduce ourselves."

She grabbed a hold of Sam's hand and drug her to the door. As soon as she flung it open, she came face-to-face with a small boy.

"Hi, there!" he said enthusiastically.

"Oh, hello. You must be the new neighbor, right?" Carly asked, smiling at him.

"Yup, that's me! My mom and I just moved in this morning. I came over to meet you because she said there was a family living across from us. I'm Freddie Benson, by the way." He stuck out his hand, grinning the entire time.

At the mention of his name, Sam froze from her spot behind the door. Did he just say his name was Freddie Benson? She shook her head.

_Nah_, she thought. _It's probably not the same one. If I haven't seen him in four years, what are the chances I'd see him today?_

Carly reached for the boy's hand and gave it a shake. She tried to pull it back, but he continued to hold onto it.

"Um, Freddie. You can let go now."

"Whoops. Sorry." He blushed, letting go of her hand, but still stared back at her with glazed over eyes.

"Anyway, I'm Carly Shay. Nice to meet you, Freddie!"

"Carly," he repeated. "Wow, that's a pretty name for a pretty girl."

Sam wanted to gag. She could hear everything that this boy was saying and boy, was he a hopeless romantic! No boy could get away with saying that stuff to her. She rolled her eyes instead, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, well. That's sweet of you to say, Freddie." Carly sounded a bit uncomfortable, considering this boy was already hitting on her.

She really hadn't expected to find Freddie looking like _that_. Sure, he was puppy dog cute. Not boyfriend cute. Internally, she sighed. She knew she had to get the topic off of her, or else the conversation could get awkward.

"So I hear you're my age? I'm 11, by the way. And you're going to attend Ridgeway?" she asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Yup! I'm 11 and will be going to Ridgeway soon. My mom and I just moved back to Seattle. I was born in this city and lived here until I turned eight. Then we moved to California for a bit. But we're back now," Freddie explained.

"In that case, welcome back to Seattle. Hopefully, you like it here at Bushwell. Ridgeway's really cool, too."

Suddenly, it dawned on Carly that Sam hadn't said a word. She turned around, expecting to see Sam right behind her, but she wasn't. She turned her head slightly, catching her best friend standing behind the door. She gave her a glare and shifted her attention back to Freddie.

"Freddie, will you excuse me for just one minute? I'll be right back."

"Sure, no problem. Take your time." He gave her a goofy grin, which she brushed off.

Carly quietly shut the door, turning her body to face Sam.

"Sam! Why haven't you introduced yourself yet? Here you are hiding behind a door when you could say hi to the boy! He's actually pretty nice. A little clingy, but nice. C'mon. You said you would do this for me," Carly said exasperatedly.

"Ugh. He sounds like a dork, though! He's already drooling all over you. What's the point in meeting someone that's clingy, dorky, and just plain _weird_? I can save myself from the frustration, Carls."

"He can probably hear you through the door! Don't insult him, Sam! You don't know anything about him," she hissed in response.

Sam rolled her blue eyes. "Whatever. Look, if it makes you happy, I'll introduce myself to the dork. But you can't control me if I comment on how much of a nub he is. Got it?"

Carly sighed, but nodded. "I got it. Just…try to be nice. I feel like he's going to need help getting around and stuff. He may have lived in Seattle before, but things have changed."

She opened the door again, coming face-to-face with a still very eager Freddie Benson. He hadn't moved an inch.

"Thanks for waiting. I just had to talk to my best friend. Oh, and here she is!" Carly grabbed a hold of Sam's hand and placed her in front of the boy.

Sam's eyes widened at the motion, but also at the person who stared back. She gulped,_ knowing_, deep in her mind, that this was the same boy she had met four years ago at the beach. He had hardly changed at all since that day. Same chocolate brown eyes, soft brown hair, and geeky smile.

Freddie's face was contorted into a look of pure surprise as he caught sight of her. He knew who she was, despite the fact that she looked a bit different from their first meeting.

Her body had grown slimmer, taller. She wore more boyish clothes. But she still had long blonde curls and dazzling blue eyes. She still looked _pretty_.

Carly cleared her throat to interrupt their staring contest. She managed to take Sam by the shoulders and push her a little ways back, so there was more distance between her and Freddie.

"Freddie, this is my best friend, Sam Puckett. Sam, this is the new boy, Freddie Benson," she introduced formally.

"It's nice to meet you, Sam," Freddie said stiffly, extending his hand.

Just like their first meeting, she ignored his hand. "I guess it's okay to meet you too, _dork_," Sam replied.

Freddie retracted his hand immediately, looking away from the girl. In his mind, he wanted to say so much to her, but he knew he couldn't. Not with Carly standing in front of them.

Speaking of Carly, she could sense the tension in the air. She knew she had to jump in, or else things could get ugly. Sam had a tendency to be a bit abrasive. Freddie, she could tell, was a bit sensitive.

"Well, now that you guys have met, I think we'll say our goodbyes. Freddie, I'm sure you need time to settle in. You just moved in, after all. You rest up, and come by anytime you want to talk, okay? I'll be here, and Sam's over enough so you'll get use to her, too."

Carly pulled Sam back inside, ready to shut the door again, when Freddie interrupted.

"Actually, I don't have any plans right now. My mom is still working on getting things sorted into the apartment. She said she doesn't need my help. So, can I hang with you guys?"

He sounded so eager that the guilt overtook Carly. Truthfully, she had hoped to get rid of him for awhile, so she could go back to hanging out with Sam. But, he seemed so excited to be around them, she couldn't say no.

"Sam, would you mind if Freddie stayed over for a while? We can hang out for a bit, and then he can go home to relax for the evening."

She used her puppy dog look on Sam again, which made the blonde's resolve crumble. It was hard to deny Carly anything after she used that begging technique.

"Fine," she groaned, pointing to Freddie. "But you better not get on my nerves. Otherwise, you're dead meat. Got it?"

Freddie nodded, recognizing her words from four years ago. "Yeah, I got it," he answered softly.

He followed Carly and Sam into the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Right after Freddie entered Carly's apartment, things were never the same again. It wasn't just that day that Freddie came over. It was every single day after that. A friendship soon blossomed between the two brunettes. But quickly after meeting her, Freddie developed a big crush on Carly.

Sam didn't understand it at all. Sure, Carly was her best friend, but did Freddie have to swoop in and take her away? _And_ develop a stupid crush on her that wasn't going to go anywhere? Sam felt annoyed, both at their friendship and Freddie's crush.

She still remembered their promise they made at age seven. _We promise to always be friends_. Well, right now it felt like that promise wasn't even in effect. They surely weren't friends. They were more like close enemies.

Many things were still left unsaid between them. It had been about six months since their second encounter, but neither person had said much to the other.

However, it all changed one day. And again, it happened at beach.

* * *

Sam was bored after a long day at school. School always bored her, but today seemed especially bad.

After hanging out with Carly and Freddie, she decided to visit the beach. With a bit convincing, she got her mother to agree to drive her to the destination she wanted.

As she stood on the exact same spot where she and Freddie first met, she sighed. Crossing her arms, she looked at the endless water in front of her. The waves rolled and crashed, creating a peaceful sound.

All she wanted was for Freddie to remember. Remember the promise that they had made. If he had acted like he did when they were seven, maybe they would have kept the promise. If he had actually noticed her, instead of her best friend, things might have been different. But they weren't.

"Hey, can I join you?" a voice broke her thoughts.

She knew that voice, and wasn't very happy to hear it.

"What do you want, Freddie?" she threw back at him, not bothering to turn around.

"Sam, can we talk? Please?" He sounded a bit desperate, which made her chuckle quietly.

"What do you want to talk about? Shouldn't you be with Carly? Or your mom?"

Freddie reached up and grabbed her shoulder. She turned around at the contact, immediately throwing his hand off of her. A deep scowl etched itself on her mouth.

"No, I'm here because I wanted to talk to you. There's a lot of stuff we need to clear up, Sam. Like the fact that we met for the second time after four years, six months ago."

"So? I don't see why that's important now. It's not a big deal anymore."

"Yes, it is important! Sam, do you know how long I looked for you after that day?" He asked, frustration taking over in his voice.

"You didn't look very hard, apparently. You never found me. Anyway, you're the one that moved! What's that even about? You're the one who needs to do the explaining, not me!"

Freddie's eyes quickly became clouded over with a mixture of pain, anger, and confusion. Sam had never seen that look from him before, and to be honest, it kind of freaked her out.

"Do you remember how I mentioned my dad when we were seven? How he was always busy, but loved my mom and me a lot? Well, something happened to him a couple weeks after we met."

He paused, finding there was a lump in his throat. He had never talked about this to someone other than his mom.

"Yes, I remember. Go on with your story," she urged, motioning with her hand for him to continue.

"Sam, my dad died. He got into car accident. He was late coming home from work one night. He usually came home by five o'clock, but it was already seven. We hadn't gotten a phone call, so my mom started getting worried. She called him a few times, but got no response. An hour later, we got a call from the police saying they found two crashed cars with bodies inside each of them. A drunk driver hit my dad and it killed them both," he said shakily, feeling tears form in his eyes.

Sam's expression softened. She patted Freddie on the shoulder, feeling sadness for him. She wasn't used to feeling compassion for someone other than Carly, so she didn't know how to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, Freddie. That really sucks."

She wanted to cringe at the choice of words, but that was all she could think of to say.

Freddie sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He looked at Sam through his blurry eyes, trying to compose himself enough to talk.

"Anyway, you asked why I moved. That's why. My mom decided that it was time for us to start over in a new place. So we moved to California. But, it really didn't feel like to home to either of us. Seattle always felt like home, so we chose to move back. We didn't want a house because it was just the two of us. Bushwell seemed like the best option."

"I had no idea. Wow. I, uh, I don't really know what to say," Sam stammered.

He had calmed down enough to simply shrug. "I'm not sure what to say either. You wanted to know, so I gave you the info. I've kept that in for so long that it feels kind of good to get it out there."

She nodded, looking away from him. She turned her focus back on the ocean and its peacefulness.

"So…" he began but trailed off.

"So what?" Her eyes remained on the water, instead of at him.

"Look, I just told you my story. So what about yours? We haven't really talked since were seven."

"There's nothing to tell. My family life still sucks. School is still incredibly boring. Carly's my best friend and I practically live in her apartment. I haven't changed that much since that day."

Her voice sounded monotone, but sadness was hidden underneath it. Freddie didn't know her well enough to figure it out, though.

"There's gotta be more than that, Sam. We've spent four years apart. Things have obviously changed. Why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't talk about my personal life, okay?" she snapped, turning to him. "I don't like telling people stuff about me that isn't worth knowing. I don't go around putting my heart on my sleeve. I build walls, Freddie. You of all people should know that by now!"

"What are you talking about, Sam? All I'm asking is what's been going on in the last few years, and you give me that kind of answer! I've known you for awhile, and you can't even tell me that."

"You just don't get it," she seethed. "I _don't_ trust people. Not ever since the day my dad walked out. I don't trust people enough to let them know me. You asked me about my life story. Well, you're not gonna get it."

"That's not fair! I shared something so personal about my life to you, and you can't do the same! Why's that?"

Freddie sounded just as upset at the moment as he did when they first met. Sam couldn't fight the nostalgia that rushed into her mind.

"Well, it was your choice to share it with me. It's my choice to not let you know my story. Look, I'm sparing you. You don't want to know about me. It's easier that way."

"You trust Carly. Why don't you trust me, Sam? You _used_ to," he said, putting emphasis on the past.

"You broke the promise," she muttered so low that he could hardly catch it.

"Promise? You mean the one we made when we were seven?"

"Yes! That promise, Freddie! You broke it. That's why I can't trust you."

"How did I break it? If anything, you're the one who broke it!"

"Me? Oh, no. You've got it wrong. You're the one who broke it. You always said we'd be friends. We'll look where we are! After making that promise, we didn't see each other again until four years later. You left, Freddie. I know it's not your fault because you had to get away. But you could have, I don't know, tracked me down harder! You could have found me. If that wasn't bad enough, we get lucky enough to see each other again, and you're more interested in being Carly's friend than mine!"

The last line slipped out of Sam's mouth without her permission. She instantly slapped her hand over her mouth in mortification.

Freddie's eyes widened, but narrowed soon after.

"Who says we can't be friends now? Technically, you're the one who broke the promise because we could have picked up where we left off. What's so hard about that?"

"We can't, though. Things have changed. Face it, we're not cut out to be friends. We'd fight all the time and nothing good could come out of it. We're better off as enemies."

Freddie's eyes hardened at her words. He felt his blood boil beneath the surface of his skin.

"Fine. If you wanna act like that, go ahead. I don't need you, Sam Puckett. We can be enemies. That's fine. I suggested that we try being friends, but noooo, you aren't into that. You know, we shouldn't have made that promise in the first place. It's all gone now," he spat at her.

Sam glared at Freddie with one of the deadliest looks she'd ever given someone.

"You're right, we shouldn't have. Oh, you know what? Let's make a new promise! How about we promise to hate each other forever? We obviously can't be friends, acquaintances, or anything decent. Enemies is all we have left."

"Fine! That sounds good. I, Freddie Benson, promise to hate you, Sam Puckett, forever. Deal?"

He stuck out his hand, but as usual, Sam ignored it. She thumped him on the head instead.

"Don't _ever_ think you can touch me," she snarled.

"Whatever," he mocked.

She inched forward, ready to smack him when a car horn sounded. She took a deep breath and turned around to find her mom sitting in the car, waiting for her.

"I have to go now. My mom's here. If she hadn't shown up, you'd be dead meat."

"Oh, I'm sure," he said sarcastically, crossing his arms.

Sam willed herself to walk away. If she actually starting hitting him, she'd never stop. He seriously irked her!

Before she left for good, she shouted over her shoulder, "Don't forget the promise, Frednub!"

Freddie couldn't stop his fists from balling up. "Oh, I won't forget, Puckett!"

As soon as she left, he stomped off to the parking lot. His mom was waiting for him, too. He tried to calm himself down, but couldn't find the nerve. He was normally so poised and collected, but that girl just drove him up the wall.

One thing was for sure, he knew he wouldn't be able to break this promise. Hating Sam Puckett, Freddie thought, would be the easiest thing in the world.

But he was sadly mistaken. It wasn't easier to hate her. Actually, it proved to be quite difficult for Freddie Benson.

* * *

What neither kid realized was the "hate" they felt for each other wasn't really hate. It was far from it, actually. Of course, they were eleven, so it was easy to call it hate. They continued on like that for years. Even after the famous web show, iCarly got started.

They never really had the hearts to feel hate for one another. But, they didn't know it wasn't real. To them, it seemed like hate was the only emotion that could be felt for each other.

It wasn't until the fateful day where Sam apologized on iCarly for admitting Freddie had never kissed anyone that it all changed. It was then that their old promise of "hatred" faded, and a new one was made.

It was this promise that made it possible for them to give up on their "hate." At least, what they claimed hate to be. This promise was stronger and lasted longer, proving that "hate" was only a word used to try and shield the truth from coming to light. A truth so powerful and scary that neither would ever realize until much later.


	3. Chap 3: A Day Full of Maybes

**Author's Note:  
**

_Okay, so not my best chapter. It's just a filler, though. The other ones will be better, I promise.  
_

_As you all have probably guessed, each chapter will involve a promise and will incorporate the beach somehow. I wanted to bring the scenery back because that's where Sam and Freddie met, so it's pretty important.  
_

_Oh, and as it turns out, the story is going to end up being 6 or 7 chapters. I've planned it out, and with the ideas I have in mind, I can't do this in 4 or 5 chapters.  
_

__**Disclaimer:  
**

_I don't own iCarly. The privilege goes to the one and only Mr. Dan Schneider. _**  
**

Swimming. That's all Freddie came to the beach to do. It was a hot Seattle day and the heat finally got to him.

After the whole kiss incident, he decided it was time to get out of the apartment. It was time to clear his head of all the things that were jumping around in there. With a bit of convincing, Spencer took him because his mother had to work all day.

Freddie quickly jumped into the chilly water upon arriving. A strong breeze floated around him and he inhaled the salty aroma. He closed his eyes, trying desperately to not think about a certain blonde who had been invading his thoughts lately. The same blonde who he promised to hate for the rest of his life, but ended up _kissing_ a few days ago.

"Ugh, why her? Why did it have to be her?" he mumbled to himself.

Out of all the girls to have his first kiss with, it had to be _Sam_. He wanted Carly to be the one, but somehow, fate had a different plan.

Deep down, Freddie secretly liked the kiss, but he'd never admit to anyone. It drove him absolutely crazy that even after a few days, it was still on his mind. But the feel of her lips on his couldn't be forgotten. It just couldn't.

"Ah! Get out of my stupid head!" he shouted to no one in particular as he threw his arms down on the water, creating large splashes.

"Jeez, watch where you're splashing!" A shrill voice shot back at him.

Freddie suddenly froze, his eyes flying open. He _knew_ that voice. Could tell from five miles away who it belonged to.

"Sam, what in the world are you doing here?" he asked, coming closer to her.

Her back was to him, so initially, she didn't know who had splashed her. But once he spoke, her eyes widened. Of course, it had to be Freddie. No one else she knew could sound that nubby.

She whipped around, with a "deer in the headlights" look. It took her a moment before she could respond.

"I should ask you the same question. What are _you_ doing here?"

He shrugged. "I've got some things on my mind. Thought swimming could help me clear it."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Freddie waited for more, but nothing came. So, he decided to press the issue. "You didn't answer my question. Why are you here, Sam?"

"Same reason as you."

"You have stuff on your mind? That's a first," he scoffed, immediately regretting his words as soon as they left his mouth.

He knew that he was going to get hit for that. Closing his eyes, he waited for her fist to come in contact with his skin, but the blow never came. Popping one eye open, he found that her back was facing him again.

"You're not gonna hit me? Where's the Sam Puckett that I know?" His tone was light, but he was confused. She had beaten him every time he uttered a sarcastic comment about her. Why was this any different?

"Forget it, Freddie. I don't want to talk to you."

She started to swim towards the shore, but before she got too far, he grabbed onto her arm. Turning around, she saw that his face reflected deep concern.

"What's wrong? You never call me Freddie! I know there's something wrong because you're not using one of your nicknames for me."

She sighed loudly, taking his hand and removing it from her. "I don't want to talk about. Look, I came here for a swim. I'd like to do that before I leave. I'll see you later, okay?"

She began to move, but Freddie took a hold of her. She easily pushed him away because she was stronger than him.

"Don't you get it? Leave me alone!" she shouted, fire blazing in her eyes.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong!"

"No!"

Freddie had had enough of this. He reached for her wrists, gripping them tightly in his hands. She glared at him, but didn't take her wrists out.

"If I tell you, will you let me go?" She sounded quiet, not argumentative like she usually was.

He nodded, releasing his hold on her. He backed away, waiting silently for her explanation.

"I can't stop thinking about the kiss, alright? Every time I try and focus on something else, I always end up back to it! It frustrates the crap out of me!"

Freddie took in a sharp breath. Had she really been thinking about the same thing he had?

"You can't stop thinking about it, either? I thought I was the only one."

"Wait, that's been on your mind, too?" She seemed just as baffled as him.

"Yeah. I don't know why, but whenever I want to think about something else, I can't. It doesn't make any sense. We did it to just get it over with. So why does it even matter?"

"It's not supposed to matter! We agreed to never bring it up again, and here we are, doing the exact opposite! I don't get it, either. All I know is that I came here to get my mind off of it and it's not helping, since we're talking about the very subject. I want to forget, Freddie. I really do. But I just can't!" She threw up her arms in exasperation.

"You think it's any easier for me? I'm supposed to hate you, Sam! What were we thinking when we kissed? People who hate each other don't kiss! It's not right."

Suddenly, a small chuckle escaped Sam's mouth. Freddie caught onto it and frowned.

"What? It's not funny. What we're dealing with is not humorous."

"It's nothing," she replied, looking away.

"Sam! C'mon, tell me. Please?" he begged.

"You're gonna laugh."

"I promise I won't. You said you wouldn't break my arm, remember? Well, I won't laugh."

Sighing quietly, Sam muttered in very low voice, "Well what if the reason why we can't get it out of our minds is because we actually felt something?"

"You mean…like something other than hate?"

"Yes! What if, I don't know, it was some other emotion?"

Freddie's eyes widened. Oh no. Had she meant actual _feelings_? The kind that led to crushes?

"We're not talking about real _feelings_, right? You know, liking each other in _that_ way?" he gulped.

Sam couldn't take it anymore. She slapped his head, scowling. He yelped in response, but felt a little better because she had finally hit him. At least she seemed back to normal now.

"No, of course not! God, why would I ever fall for _you_? You're a nub, a dork, a geek, Queen of the Jerks! That's got to be one of the dumbest things you've ever said!"

"Hey! That was totally uncalled for! I just wanted to make sure and you insult me instead. This is really getting somewhere, Sam," he growled.

She rolled her blue eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, what I meant was that maybe we don't hate each other. Maybe, just maybe, it's not exactly hate. If we hated each other, we'd be able to forget about the kiss. Actually, we wouldn't have even kissed in the first place. But we did, and now we can't stop thinking about it."

"So we've been fake-hating each other this whole time?"

"No, not necessarily. It's possible that we started out hating each other. Somewhere along the line, it just didn't seem like the real thing, though. We're good at acting like we hate one another, but do we really? I do find you annoying, you're extremely nubby, and we virtually have nothing in common except for Carly's friendship. But is that enough for me to hate you? Probably not."

"Wow, Sam. That's the most insightful thing you've ever said."

Her eyes narrowed. Raising her fist, she snapped, "One more comment about my intelligence and you'll get a beating so hard you won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow. Got it? I'm _trying_ to be understanding, and you mouthing off isn't helping."

"I got it. Loud and clear." He held his hands up, calling a truce.

"As I was saying, it's got to be something other than hate. I have no idea what it is, though."

Silence stretched between the two adolescents as they each thought about what was said. A few moments later, Freddie snapped his fingers as an idea floated into his head.

"I think I get it now. I think I get why we can't forget and what that feeling actually is."

"And…" She motioned with her hand for him to continue.

"Look, we're not enemies, but we're not exactly full-fledged friends. We're frenemies. Frenemies have a different kind of bond than most people do. They fight a lot but they can be nice to each other sometimes. It's really a roller coaster with them. They _tolerate _each other. And that's exactly what we do. We deal with one another because we're kind of forced to. Carly likes us both, so we have no choice. We can't forget because that would mean we would be enemies. We don't want to acknowledge anything more on it because it would mean we're friends. We're in between. We're in the _toleration_ state. That's all I can come up with. Do you get it now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Man, we have a messed up relationship!"

Freddie couldn't help but laugh. "You've got that right."

"So where does that leave us?"

"It seems kind of silly to have a promise where we hate each other, doesn't it? We could always make a new promise…." he trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

Sam groaned. "You want to make _another_ promise? This is the third one in a row! And we've been bad at keeping them."

"But the last one was made when we were 11. We're 14 now. I think we've matured a little since then. C'mon. Maybe we'll actually keep this one."

"What if we don't? What if this one gets broken like the rest of them?"

"Well, what if it doesn't? You never know unless you try."

Groaning again, Sam relented. "Fine! Let's hear this promise proposition."

"Okay, what if we promise to tolerate each other? We don't have to necessarily like the other very much, just deal with them."

"Dude, that's what we're doing right now. Why would we need a promise if we're already doing it?"

"Promises are our thing, Sam. It's what we do to make it official. You've agreed to the last two. Why not this one?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It just seems odd, for some reason. A promise to tolerate each other?"

"I know it sounds weird, but I don't want to end on a promise to always hate each other. We're older now. I feel like we need to start acting like it. Keeping a promise from when we were angry 11-year-olds doesn't make sense to me. We don't have to be friends, Sam. That's not what I'm asking. All I want is to quit with this whole "hating" act, as you've put it. At the moment, toleration seems like the best solution. Maybe someday we can be friends again, when we both get over our differences. It doesn't have to be today. Today, we should tolerate each other. What do you say?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Sam let her eyes roll once more. "Fine. You've got yourself a promise. I guess I can tolerate you."

A smile appeared on Freddie's face as he reached out his hand. It was a habit by now, and he knew Sam wasn't going to shake it, but he did it anyway. What surprised him was that she actually uncrossed her arms to take his hand. She gave it a firm squeeze before dropping it.

"You actually touched my hand after making a promise," he said in awe.

"Eh, this promise has to deal with toleration, doesn't it? I'm _trying_ to be civil. Don't ruin it, Freddork." She smirked, playfully pushing him.

"There's the real, Sam! I was wondering when the blonde headed demon was going to start calling me by those stupid names again."

"Watch it! You're testing my tolerance level," she warned, but smiled.

"I bet I can test it even more," he challenged.

Freddie realized they had been standing in the shallow water for the past ten minutes, just talking. It was time to have a little fun. His eyes gleamed with mischief as a thought popped into his mind. He was surely going to be dead after this.

He took his right hand and pulled it all the way back through the water. With a grunt, he created a huge splash, soaking the rest of Sam. When the cold water hit her skin, she screeched out.

"You're so dead, Benson!" she yelled and tackled him.

They landed fully in water, attached to each other. They started to wrestle, but laughed the entire time as they were doing it. Sam was on top of Freddie, his arms pinned underneath her hands. He struggled to get out, but her grip was tight. The only way to get out was to try something that might or might not work. After a bit of effort, he got one hand out. Reaching up, he tickled her stomach.

"Ahh! F-Freddie! S-stop!" she gasped out, trying desperately to stop laughing.

"Ha, ha! I've got you!"

She fully let go of him now, but he still continued his tickle attack. She wouldn't stop squirming, which made it hard for him to pin her down. Eventually, he managed it.

"Freddie, let go! I give, I give! Stop tickling me!"

The smile on Freddie's face was one of the biggest he'd ever had. "If you say the magic word, then I'll stop."

"If you don't stop, I'll beat you to a pulp. That's the magic phrase," she ground out. It didn't sound that serious, though, since she was laughing hysterically.

"I don't think that's right."

He kept on tickling her until she gave up with a groan. "Alright, alright! Please, stop tickling me."

He quit his action, but held onto her arms. She glowered at him and swiftly removed herself from his grip. Without a second thought, her fist collided with his gut.

"Jerk," she said, standing up.

"What was that for? I thought we were having fun," he wheezed out and stood up.

"Oh, we were. But don't think you can pull one over on me. You tickled me. I wasn't going to let you get away with that."

"Ugh, whatever. If we were friends, would I have gotten away with it?"

Her lips curved into a half-smile. "Maybe, just maybe. But we're not, right now. We tolerate each other. That's all you're gonna get out of me at the moment."

"I feel honored. Completely honored," he responded, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

"You should. It is an honor to even be associated with me." She tried to keep a straight face, but ended up cracking up.

Freddie laughed along with her, shaking his head. This girl was definitely something, alright.

"Hey, did Spencer give you a ride here?" she asked, after calming down.

"Yeah. He should be back soon to come get me. Who brought you?"

"My mom did. But she's probably out doing one of her weird things now." She shuddered involuntarily. "Anyway, do you think Spence could give me a ride, too? I was going to go back to Carly's and hang out with her. She should be done shopping with Wendy."

"He'll probably be fine with it. Oh, I think I see him over there." Freddie pointed to the car idling in the parking lot.

A dangerous gleam appeared in Sam's eyes. "I'll race you there. Winner gets shot gun."

"You're on! You may have been fast when we were 7, but it's been 7 years. I bet I can beat you."

"Dude, I can still win. Watch me."

"I highly doubt it. Okay, on the count of three?"

She nodded. "One…two…three!"

Just like before, Sam shot right out in front of Freddie. She ran and ran, pushing her legs as fast as they could go. She reached the car in no time, leaning against it to catch her breath.

Freddie tried his hardest, but he still couldn't beat her. Truthfully, he didn't mind that much. As he ran, he pondered a few things in his mind.

After seven years of knowing this girl, she continued to drive him completely mad, but he kind of liked it. She kept him on his toes and it was fun, in a way. She was pain in the neck, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He honestly couldn't wait to be friends with her again. Sam Puckett, he realized, was one a kind. And nothing in the world could change that fact.

* * *

What neither kid figured out at first was this "toleration stage" was just the beginning of building their friendship. It became a slow process, but it eventually happened. They evolved from toleration to being basic friends.

But the more time they spent together, the more they realized being basic friends wasn't enough. By hanging out on their own accounts, (not just because Carly forced them) they discovered similarities they had. Those similarities were what led them to become best friends.

However, they didn't stop there. They finally figured out that it wasn't just a friendship that blossomed. It soon turned into a romance that was filled with so much passion and love that it would have made Romeo and Juliet jealous. Sadly, the romance also became a tragedy.

On that dark night, the promise of tolerance was replaced with another promise. This one lasted longer than the rest. Both carried this one in their hearts, even into adulthood. It could not be forgotten, nor could it broken.

_**Review, please?** _


	4. Chap 4: A Symphony of Broken Hearts

**Author's Note:  
**

_This was extremely hard to write. I hate having to make either Sam or Freddie cry, but it was important for them to express emotion in this chapter. So hopefully you guys will get just as sad as I did when I wrote and re-read it. It's a tear-jerker. _**  
**

_Sam's a little different in the chapter. You will see a more mature, vulnerable side to her. Enjoy.  
_

**Disclaimer**_  
_

_I did not suddenly acquire iCarly. It still belongs to Dan Schneider.  
_

The loud ocean waves crashed around Sam, echoing in her ears. The scent of salt floated around, which soothed her a bit. A full moon appeared in the sky, casting a bit of light. Otherwise it was dark, without any twinkling stars or clouds. Sam felt the darkness had wrapped her in a tight blanket of loneliness.

She clutched her knees to her chest, trying frantically to contain the tears that kept spilling from her eyes. The sobs that ripped through her body were enough to make it shake uncontrollably. Laying her head down on her knees, she closed her eyes.

* * *

It had only been about an hour since she made the biggest mistake of her life: letting Freddie go. They had broken up at midnight with sad smiles and quiet goodbyes.

Sam didn't shed a tear until she left Bushwell, running to her car. She sat in the vehicle for at least twenty minutes as the tears fell. When she couldn't stand being there anymore, she started to drive. She drove until she reached the one place that was always calming. The beach.

She had left her red truck in the parking lot and walked to the shore. There, she sunk to the ground, crying out for her lost love. She wanted nothing more than to run back into Freddie's comforting arms. She wanted to look into his deep brown eyes and see his bright smile.

_ Baby, I'm sorry. We made a huge mistake. We're meant for each other and breaking up isn't the answer. We just need to try harder, work past our differences. I swear we can make it work. I love you so much, Freddie. Please don't leave me. _

Those were the words she wanted to say. Somehow, they never made it out of her head. She longed to utter them, pour her heart to him. But it was too late now.

Her heart felt shattered. Like it was made of glass and accidentally got dropped on a hardwood floor, completely breaking everywhere. The most fragile part of her was struggling to beat, struggling to go on.

This was the worst pain she'd ever suffered in her life. It shred and tore at her, bringing out her biggest fear heartbreak. She hated it because even as a little girl, she experienced it. Her heart broke when her dad left, when her sister went away, and when her mother stopped caring. Her heart broke when her friendship with Carly almost ended. Now, her heart was breaking because she had lost the best boyfriend in the world.

* * *

Suddenly, the sound of a car door being slammed filled her ears. She lifted her head, using a hand to wipe some of the tears away. A figure walked towards her, with what seemed like a blanket in their hands. Sam couldn't tell who it was, but she knew she shouldn't be afraid. Whoever it was didn't seem like a threat.

The person stood a few feet away and said, "So I guess you couldn't sleep either, huh?"

His soft words were carried by the wind, which drifted to Sam. Immediately, she knew who it was. At the recognition, more tears started to flow at a faster pace. She didn't bother to wipe them away this time since a lot were sure to come.

"No," she choked out, turning away from him.

Without answering, he came closer. He sat down next to her, wrapping the blanket around her shivering frame.

"Don't touch me." Her voice shook, just as her body did.

"Sam," Freddie sighed.

Before he could stop himself, his arms enclosed her in a tight embrace. She buried her head in his chest, sobbing furiously. Resting his chin on top of her head, he sighed once more.

"I know, Sam. I know." His voice cracked as a few hot tears escaped, running down his cheeks to wet the roots of her hair.

They stayed there for a long time, in each other's embrace. The wind whipped around them, causing both to shake. The waves continued to crash and roll, symbolizing the sound of their hearts breaking.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Sam raised her head and gazed into Freddie's eyes. They stared back with so much sadness that she felt like breaking down again.

"It's not fair," she managed to get out.

Brushing a lock of blonde hair away from Sam's face, Freddie let out a long, drawn out breath. "I know. It's not fair at all. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"It doesn't have to be this way. We can change it, Freddie. You know we can."

It absolutely broke his heart (even more so than it already was) when he found himself shaking his head.

"We can't change it, Sam. We broke up because we aren't ready for each other yet. We were trying to force our connection and it didn't work. I think we just need more time to figure out who we are as people before we can get back together."

Freddie tried to be strong, but when he saw how defeated Sam looked, he couldn't be. Tears began to leak from his eyes. Sam used her limp fingers to try and wipe them away, but it was no use. He looked just as pitiful as she did a few moments ago.

"Shhh…Freddie. It's okay."

She grabbed him, crushing his body to her small frame. It surprised her that she had to be comforting him now, but if he needed her to be the strong one, she would be.

He continued to weep against her, until a few minutes later. He calmed himself to a point where he could say a few coherent things without bursting into tears.

"It's not okay, Sam. I want to be with you so much, you don't even understand. I meant every word I said when we got off the elevator. I love you so damn much and it's killing me that it's not enough. Loving you isn't enough."

When he finished with the last sentence, he waited patiently for her reply, but nothing came.

"I don't know what to say after that," she admitted truthfully.

Freddie reached for her hands, clasping them in his own. He toyed with her fingers, so he could avoid her gaze. "Do you love me?" he asked very quietly.

"Of course I do. You already know that. Why are you asking me this?"

"If we love each other, than what the hell are doing? We had the best relationship out there and we threw it all away. It doesn't make any sense."

"Freddie, look at me."

He snapped his head up, but still held onto her hands. "What?"

"I'm going to say a bunch of things, but you can't interrupt, okay? Just let me talk."

He nodded, shoulders stiffening at what she was about to say.

"I know you love me and everything, but you'll be okay. Freddie, you can get a second chance at love. I don't. You're the only person I can ever love. It doesn't come that easy to me because I don't allow myself to fall. But you were an exception. Anyway, someday you'll find someone else who you'll be just as crazy about. She'll make you incredibly happy and it will be easy with her. It won't be like this. You won't have to let her go because loving her _will_ be enough." Sam took a deep breath and continued.

"The whole point in breaking up was because we aren't ready for each other. I don't know if we'll ever be ready. The problem is, we're both stubborn. We want each other to change, but it's hard to do that when you're forced. Freddie, the past couple of months with you have been amazing. Don't think for a second that I regret a single moment we had together. Every moment was special to me. But it's time to let go. It kills me to say it, but you're right. Love isn't enough for us. We can't expect a relationship to work if it's just based on love. There's a whole lot more to it, and sadly, we don't have what it takes yet."

After her whole speech, Sam felt ready to collapse. She had never poured her heart out like that before and to be honest, it wore her out.

"I agree with the second half of what you said, but you're totally wrong about the first part. Do you really think that I'm going to find someone else? That it's going to be easier with them, than with you?" Freddie demanded adamantly.

Sam pulled her hands away to throw them up in the air in frustration. "Yes! Every relationship you'll have is going be easier than this one! If you haven't noticed, our relationship has been complicated from the very start. Look, you deserve someone that doesn't make complicate your life. And you _will_ find her. I know you will."

"What about you, Sam? You're so sure that I'm going to find another girl, but aren't you going to fall for another guy?" The ache was evident in his voice.

"No. I told you that I don't fall for people. You were a once in a life time thing. I can't fall in love with another person, Freddie. I may like someone else in the future, but it's never going to be same. You're different, though. Once your heart heals, you'll go find that dream girl. It will initially hurt when you do, but I'll be okay with it. You're going to move on. It's for the best if you do."

With each word that she said, Sam felt like there was weight being taken off of her shoulders. These thoughts had been tumbling around in her head for a long time and could finally be released.

What shocked her was the bitter laughter that left Freddie's mouth. She gave him a confused look, wondering what in the world was funny about the situation.

"You really don't get it, do you? You don't get that I _won't_ find someone else. No one in the world comes close to you. There's no one else that can be as vivacious, insane, strong, or devastatingly beautiful as you. No one else can drive me crazy like you can. And I'll be damned if another girl can make my heart explode with as much love as it does for you. I won't be able to move on like you think I can. Sure, there could be a different girl someday, but I can't love her like I love you. Trust me, I'm not the one that has another shot at love."

Sam didn't respond at first. She just sat there, staring at him. Instead of talking, she leaned in, resting her forehead against his.

"I love you. Please don't ever forget that," she murmured.

"I won't, as long as you remember that I'll always love you. I will never stop loving you until the day that I die. But I do need to ask you something. It's important."

He gently pulled away, so there was more space between them. "What you said before, about not knowing if we'd ever be ready to get back together, is that true? Do you think that even with time, we'll never be ready?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I really don't know. You know that we're always going to have problems. We've been arguing since we were little kids. That's not going to change, even as we get older. What's the point in a relationship if both people fight all of the time? But it's not just that. We started dating because we both acted impulsively. We didn't actually talk about our feelings that led to us dating. I kept those hidden until the night of the lock in. You didn't act on yours until the day at Troubled Waters. We didn't start out the way that normal couples do. I think that might have been our downfall."

Freddie laughed again, but in a depressed manner. "We're Freddie and Sam, though! Nothing about us is conventional. We wouldn't be us if we started out like everyone else. We had to complicated things. That's just us."

"I guess you're right. But maybe if we actually did what most people do, we wouldn't be here. Maybe we would. It's hard to tell. At any rate, we did our own thing and here we are. Look, I'm not saying there isn't a possibility for us in the future. Like we said earlier, when I get more normal or when you get more abnormal, it could work. We aren't sure what we want right now. When we figure it out, and if it happens to be the same thing, than we'll date again. Until then, I think we just need some time and space."

"When did you get so smart?" Freddie smiled half-heartedly.

Sam let out a dark chuckle. "I've always been smart. Hanging out with you has made me actually show it, though."

"So what does that make us now?"

She didn't want to answer his question. Her stomach clenched as she reminded herself that what she was about to say was for the best.

"We're best friends. I hate couples who say they'll remain friends but never do. I don't want to be like that. We were great friends before and I'd like to return to it. If we can't have each other romantically, then we'll have to settle for the next thing, which is friendship."

Freddie hung his head low and muttered, "You know, this really sucks."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Nothing was said between the two teens for some time. They sat still, trying to absorb one another's words.

Sam's gaze wandered to the moon and as she stared at it, her eyes started getting droopy. She thought that sleep wasn't possible tonight, but her body felt tired enough to crave it.

"You look tired. You should go and get some sleep," Freddie said after awhile.

"I don't want to go home. Mom's in Vegas for a week with her new boyfriend. I'd rather not go home to an empty house at the moment."

"Well, why don't we stay here, then? I don't feel like going back to my apartment, either."

"You mean sleep here on the beach?"

"Yeah. I don't see a problem with it."

"Isn't your mom going to kill you? There are a ton of germs on the beach," Sam mocked, a small smile on her lips.

"What she doesn't know won't kill me. Plus, I've already snuck out and she's not here yet, so she must still be asleep. I'll return before she gets up to go to work. C'mon, please?"

Sam released a dramatic sigh. "Remind why you want to do this?"

Freddie's eyes clouded over with melancholy at her words. "It's our last night that we can really spend together. After this, we're back to being separate people. We'll be Freddie and Sam again, not Seddie. Let's just have this one night to ourselves, okay? Right now, I want to be with my little Samanther."

"Okay, baby," she said quietly. "We'll stay here."

Freddie unwrapped the blanket from Sam's body and stretched it out on the sand for them to lay on. He laid down on it and Sam followed. He wound his arms around her as she curled into his side, resting her head on his chest.

Sam could tell that Freddie was close to falling asleep, but she had more to tell him before he zonked out.

"Freddie?"

"Yeah?" he mumbled, half-consciously.

"I think we're missing something here."

He turned his head to gaze into her impossibly blue eyes. "What is it?"

"Well, we're at the beach. Every time come here, we do something. Can you figure it out?"

"Um, we talk?" Freddie was baffled, to say the least.

"No, silly. Think a little harder. You're smart, so you'll get it." She playfully swat his arm.

Freddie furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what she meant. Finally, it clicked in his head. "Oh! Are you talking about our promises?"

Rolling her eyes, Sam laughed softly. "Yes, that's what I'm talking about."

"What about them? The last one we made was three years ago, when were 14. You know, we didn't really break that one. It just kind of escalated from toleration to friendship to romance to well, _this_."

"I know we didn't really break it. I was just wondering…"

"…If we should make another one?" he finished for her.

"Yeah. I want to make another one." She snuggled closer, nuzzling her nose against his neck.

"Baby, can you tell me why you want to do this?" His voice was soft as he took a hand to stroke her blonde curls.

"I want a promise to actually last, for more than just a few years. There should be one that we can carry in our hearts for a lifetime. If this is our last night together, then we need a promise anyway. Call it cliché, if you will. But even I want a storybook romance sometimes."

"This seems kind of backwards. Aren't I the one who usually insists on the promises," he chuckled.

"Hey, I made up the whole "hate" promise! I can make this one up, too."

"Okay, okay. So let's hear it, then. What's on your mind?"

Sam reached for both of Freddie's hands, intertwining their fingers.

"Don't laugh, alright? I'm gonna be very mushy for the next couple of minutes, which you know I _don't_ do. This is an exception, though. Just this once you will see how romantic I can be." She mock shuddered while a tiny grin lit up her face.

She sat up, pulling him with her. Still holding onto his hands, she stared into those pools of chocolate that were known as his eyes. Hearing her heart thump wildly in her chest, she cleared throat, ready to pour her heart again.

"Fredward Karl Benson, I have loved you for a long time. It was a slow process because I totally didn't feel it at first, but over time, it happened. I never planned on falling in love, especially with you, but your dorkiness finally caught up with me. I had no choice but to go head over heels for you." She paused for a minute to catch her breath.

"Even though we broke up, you need to know that I promise to love and care about you forever. It may not be the passionate love I feel right now, but it will be some kind of it. I'll always love you as a person and as a friend. But this promise is different. It will still hold true even after we graduate, finish iCarly, and move away to go to college. If we end with other people, I'll still love and care for you. You've changed my life, Freddie. The mark you left can't be erased. Never forget that."

In response, Freddie just blinked. He had no idea Sam could be that eloquent in the romance department. He knew she could use her words in an intelligent manner, but never when it dealt with love. He was so shocked that he couldn't say anything back to her.

"Are you going to stay there and stare at me all day?" she teased, rolling her eyes.

Still, he said nothing. Sam could tell that she had made him speechless for the first time in her life. Usually, he was the one who made her speechless, but now she had done it. Inside, she felt a little giddy.

"Since I can see you're having a hard time forming words, you can respond in any way you'd like to for my next question. Do you agree with the promise? I've already done my half. Now, it's your turn."

Instead of answering her, Freddie leaned in slowly to kiss her lips. However, Sam wouldn't let him go just yet. She wound her arms around his neck, tugging him closer. Their lips moved in perfect synchrony, familiarizing themselves with the feel and taste of each other. After a few minutes of bliss, Freddie drew back.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked with a goofy grin.

Sam rested her forehead against Freddie's. "Yes."

"So I'm guessing we don't need to shake on it?"

"Nope."

They kissed one more time before lying down on the blanket. Sam nestled into Freddie's side, with his arms securely around her.

"Goodnight, Freddie. I love you," she whispered, closing her eyes.

Before shutting his own, he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. "Sweet dreams, Sam. I love you, too."

The rush of the water and faint sound of birds calling in the background echoed around, as both teens slept peacefully in each other's arms. They knew their romance had ended for the time being, but their love for one another would last a lifetime.

* * *

Time seemed to fly by for Sam and Freddie. Before they knew what was happening, they finished their junior year. Senior year eventually rolled around, and as fast it came, it wrapped up. Gradation became a very teary experience for Sam, Freddie, and Carly. They knew they had to make their final summer together count, since they were splitting up for college.

The airport departure was one of the worst things that each kid had to go through. Carly was off to New York to attend NYU, Freddie was going to California for Stanford, and Sam planned on staying in Seattle to study at the University of Washington.

Carly and Sam's goodbyes turned into an emotional event, but when Sam had to leave Freddie, she completely broke down. He couldn't help but shed a few tears, too. After all of the crying, they reminded each other of their new promise. Freddie gave Sam one last kiss on the cheek before he left to board the plane.

However, the three friends hadn't expected that after a couple years of college, they would lose contact. Initially, they met in Seattle to exchange stories during holidays. But after awhile, the meetings occurred less often. There just wasn't time anymore for those things.

Neither Sam nor Freddie realized that the next time they would meet would be when they were adults. They accidentally met on the beach, much like the first time. That meeting changed the direction their separate lives were heading, forcing them to ask their biggest question: was love finally enough now?

**_Review, please?_**


	5. Chap 5: After All Of These Years

**Author's Note:  
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_Hey, guys. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to upload this chapter. It was just super hard to write because a lot goes on in it. No wonder it took me a long time, it's over 8,000 words! Definitely the longest chapter I've ever written. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it :)_**  
**

**Disclaimer: **_  
_

_Trust me, if iCarly was mine, it wouldn't be ending in November. Sadly, that's Dan Schneider's decision. Oh, and I don't own the few lines from the Parent Trap that I used. See if you can spot them haha. _**  
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* * *

The flight to Seattle was torture for Freddie. He hadn't gotten any sleep because the obnoxious woman sitting next to him kept complaining about her "difficult life." To make matters worse, there were screaming twins behind him. Every three minutes, simultaneous wails sounded, making him cover his ears. He felt like choking himself with the tie around his neck.

When he finally landed, he rushed off the plane. Scrambling into the airport, he flew through it to grab his bags. Pulling out his phone, he called his mom. She quickly met him outside and whisked him back to Bushwell in no time.

The visit with his mom lasted longer than he wanted, but he managed to get through it. She mainly wondered how he was doing and how the job at Pear Headquarters was. Of course, he told that everything was perfect. An hour later, Freddie left with a kiss goodbye and an agreement to see her again before he returned to San Francisco in a few days.

He met with Spencer as well. The two men decided to go shoot some pool at a local bar. They chatted about guy things, which was a nice break for Freddie. After their hangout, Spencer took Freddie to get a rental car so he could drive to his hotel.

But once Freddie got the vehicle, he didn't feel like resting up quite yet. Instead, he drove to the place he missed the most: the beach. He parked the car and made his way to the restroom to change into a pair of board shorts and t-shirt. He finished quickly and started to walk along the warm sand.

He relished the feel of the gritty ground beneath his feet. The familiar ocean breeze whipped around him, tousling his brown hair. Closing his eyes, he could hear the laugher of children, the chatter of teenagers and adults, and the sound of dogs barking in happiness.

Suddenly, he felt the body of a small person crash into him. Immediately, his eyes opened and he caught the child before they fell backwards.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized, steadying the girl.

"It's okay," she replied.

"Molly! Are you alright?" a woman called, running over to her.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Molly said, turning to the woman.

"What happened?"

Freddie spoke up. "I'm sorry, Miss. I accidentally ran into Molly because I wasn't watching where I was going. I caught her before she fell, so she should be fine."

The woman stared at Freddie, her sparkly blue eyes scrutinizing him. She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear, tilting her head to the side.

He looked back at her, his brown eyes clouded with confusion. Running a hand through his hair, he stood silently, waiting for her to say something.

A couple of seconds later, a tiny gasp escaped her lips when she realized who the man was.

"Freddie?" she asked.

"Yes," he said cautiously. "How do you know my name?"

She spun around to talk to Molly. "Honey, will you go and watch the other kids? Make sure they're okay and get them ready to go. The bus should be here soon. I have something to take care of."

The young girl agreed, walking off with what looked like a sketchbook in her hand. She called out to the other children, gathered them up, and led them to the parking lot.

Freddie watched her go, but then focused his attention back on the mysterious blonde. "Alright, how do you know me? I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you."

A mischievous smile lit up her face. "Would it help if I called you a nub? Or if I were to refer to you as Freddork?"

His eyes widened dramatically. "Sam Puckett?" he rasped out.

She winked, letting out a laugh. "The one and only."

"W-what a-are you doing here?" he stammered, taking a step backwards.

"You know, you used to be so good with words. What happened?"

Freddie shook his head, trying to clear it of the many thoughts circling in there. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be the Sam he had known his whole life.

"Are you the real Sam Puckett? Or is this Melanie? Because I know she's real!"

"God, doofus. It's really me. I'd hit you to prove it, but I don't want the kids to see and get the wrong impression. Melanie isn't even in the States anymore. She's in Paris, working on her fashion line. Anyway, I can't believe you didn't know it was me! It's not like I look any different," she scoffed, motioning to herself.

Freddie's eyes scanned over his old friend. It was true; she didn't look any more different than she did in high school and the beginning of college. Her long, curly blonde hair was still shiny and radiant. Her blue eyes still bore the deepness they used to. What surprised him was the white sundress with gold beading. Normally, she'd never be caught dead in a dress. Without a doubt, Freddie knew she was still incredibly gorgeous.

"Dude, you're staring again."

He blinked, shaking his head once more. "Sorry. It's just…you're so different. Not physically, but behaviorally. Who knew you would be anywhere near children?" A smirk graced his lips.

"Oh, shut up. I'll have you know that I actually love being around kids. I see them five days a week, after all."

"You're a school teacher?" He sounded incredulous.

"Yes. If you can believe it, I work at Ridgeway. As an art teacher, of all things," she laughed.

"Whoa. This isn't what I was expecting."

"Well, you've been gone for awhile. It's not surprising you've missed out on a lot."

"I guess I have. So what are you and the kids doing here on a Friday?"

"I convinced the principal to let me take them on a field trip. I teach four hours of eighth grade art, and I figured if I brought the children here, they could get inspiration for their next project. That's why they have sketch books. If anything appealed to them, they could start drawing. Or, they could get ideas and start the assignment on Monday. It's such a beautiful day, anyway. Why waste it inside?"

"Nice thinking, Puckett. Kids do need to get out, otherwise they go crazy. Much like you did when we went to Ridgeway," he said, raising his eyebrows in a challenge.

"Frednub, you are _so_ close to getting a beating. If I weren't in a public place with my students nearby, you'd be totally dead. Got it?"

Freddie nodded, but wasn't phased. She didn't scare him anymore. Still, she never did lose her threatening edge. Throwing up his hands, he surrendered.

"Fine, I'll stop. Just messing with you. I miss doing that, you know."

Rolling her eyes, Sam couldn't help but smile. "Whatever. What about you? What are you doing back in Seattle? Did Pear fire you because you lack the ability to sell stuff?"

Of course, she'd have to bring up the Pear Store experience from when they were both seventeen. Freddie internally cringed at the awful memory.

"No, Sam. For your information, I'm actually the head of designing the products now. San Francisco Headquarters put me in charge of coming up with the ideas for new products or improving the ones already made. Once I come up with the ideas, I can build them."

"I thought you had toned down your nerdiness! Then again, you are Fredward Benson, and nerd is your middle name." She lightly socked his arm, grinning.

"Very funny. I see the nicknames for me haven't changed. Or the fact that you still hit me." He sub-consciously rubbed his arm, even though it didn't hurt.

She decided to ignore his statement. "You didn't answer my question, though. What are you doing here? I thought Pear was strict when it came to letting you have time off of work."

"I've actually been saving my vacation days. I work more than most of the guys because my job requires additional office time. The days have been piling up, so technically, I can spend two weeks here if I want to. But I'm going back in a few days."

"Right, because you can stand to be away from your Land of the Nerds," Sam mocked.

"Hey! Maybe I just happen to like working! You can't call me a nerd for that. Look at you. You're enjoying your job. It's like I call you a geek or something."

"Pssh. Geek? Really? That's the best you can come up with? Plus, that name isn't fitting. I'm a _teacher._ You're a part of the Pear Industry. I have the right to call you a nerd."

"Wow, you haven't changed a bit. Still as vicious and feisty as ever."

Sam let out a low whine of protest, but then she heard the sound of her students shouting.

"Miss Puckett! The bus is here. We have to go!" they all said in unison.

"Well, that's my cue to leave. I've got to get the kids back to school, so they can go home for the weekend. It was good to see you again, Freddie. Take care of your dorky self, okay? Call me if you need anything and have fun for the rest of your stay."

She leaned in to give him a hug. He held onto her for a little longer than necessary, mainly because having her in his arms felt _right_. He hadn't realized how much he missed having her so close to him. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the strawberry scent of her hair. If he could have frozen the moment forever, he would have.

After about a minute, she pulled back. "Bye, Freddie," she said and then turned to head towards the parking lot.

Before she got too far, Freddie chased her and grabbed her shoulder. Spinning her around, he came face-to-face with the shimmering blue eyes that had always managed to make him weak in the knees.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was quiet, confused.

He didn't answer to question. Instead, he asked, "Do you have plans tonight?"

"No. I'll probably spend the night at home, grading assignments. Why do you want to know?"

"Well, how about we have dinner together? It's been so long, Sam. We have a lot of catching up to do, and today seems perfect since both of us don't have anything urgent to do. We could picnic here on the beach."

He waited in bated breath for her answer. His time in Seattle was limited and all he wanted to do was spend time with her. After years of not seeing her, he had forgotten how much her presence affected him. She was like a drug, addicting and deadly.

"You want to dine with me? You do realize that I have the same appetite, right?" she joked, trying to hide her nerves.

Letting out a chuckle, Freddie nodded. "Of course I do. I didn't that part of you would ever change. Tell you what, I'll bring the food, and you can do the drinks. Trust me, I'll get all of your favorites."

When he said that, Sam couldn't say no. She'd never give up a chance for free food, especially if Freddie prepared it. He knew exactly the way she liked her meals made.

"You've got yourself a deal! Meet me here at seven?"

"Sure, sounds good. But you better go back to your students. They seem impatient over there."

This time, Sam gently pecked Freddie on the cheek before she left. Once she was out of sight, Freddie lifted a hand to his cheek. His heart clenched in his chest, while his head spun.

He knew that this was dangerous. He couldn't get close to her again. Doing that would mean heartbreak for him. They lived in two different places with different lives. Being with her just wasn't possible. Friendship, he supposed, was the next best thing.

Freddie sighed, letting his hand drop. He only had a few hours until the dinner, and if he didn't get going soon, he'd be late. He ran to his car, trying desperately to stop the tidal wave of Sam-induced thoughts from entering his mind.

_Focus on getting the food ready,_ he reminded himself. But he knew it was easier said than done.

* * *

Glancing at himself in the mirror, Freddie smiled. He didn't look too bad, he had to admit. To him, shorts and a t-shirt were a bit casual for the event, so he chose to wear a pair of khaki pants and a light blue polo. After making sure he appeared presentable, he checked his phone. 6:40 stared back at him in glowing green numbers.

"Time to go," he muttered, racing out of his room of the suite. He grabbed the large picnic basket and the fold-up card table with chairs that he borrowed from his mom. Dashing out of the hotel, he tossed everything in the car and took off.

When he reached the beach, he saw her in standing near the water's edge. His heart began to thud at an increasingly fast rate at the sight of her. He wondered if she'd ever stop having an effect on him.

Quickly taking all of the stuff in his arms, he walked over to an empty spot. Setting the supplies down, he grinned as a plan snaked into his mind. Freddie quietly crept up behind Sam to clutch her around the waist, lifting her up so her feet couldn't touch the ground.

"Ah!" she squealed.

"The Benson Monster's got you!" he growled in a deep voice.

"Benson, put me down!" she demanded, giggling as she squirmed.

"Not a chance, Puckett."

His grip was tight enough that she couldn't wiggle out. She did the only thing she could: kick his shins relentlessly.

"Kicking me won't help you. You know, I really can't feel it. Looks like I'm finally stronger than the famous Sam Puckett."

At his last comment, Sam used all of her strength to break out of Freddie's arms. Once she freed herself, she whirled around, and pushed him onto the ground. What she didn't realize was, when he went down, so did she. He landed on his back with a loud "Oof!" Then, she collapsed on his stomach, which made him double his "Oof!"

Her hands were on his chest and she found herself looking into his chocolate brown eyes. As he gazed at her baby blues, he couldn't even register the extra weight on him. Reaching out, he found a lock of blonde hair to tuck behind her ear. She took in a sharp breath at the action. They hadn't been _this_ close in a long time.

"Way to start off dinner, right?" she teased, easing herself off of him.

He nodded, trying to shake off the feelings of longing. "Yeah, for sure. A little help here, Sam?" He held out his hand for her to take.

She helped him up and smiled. "C'mon. I'm hungry and that food's not going to get eaten by itself!"

She escaped before he could reply. Using her Sam speed, she hurriedly set up the table and chairs. She started to pull out the food from the basket, but Freddie stopped her.

"Here, let me take care of that. Why don't you prepare our drinks?" he offered.

"Fine. But the food better be on the table when I get back from the car!" Sam grumbled, sprinting to go retrieve the beverages.

When she returned with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses in her hands, she found deep purple table cloth on the table. In the center stood a candle holder complete with a candle, flickering a small light. Two plates lay opposite of each other. One was piled high with various foods; the other had a decent amount. What truly surprised her was what Freddie held in his hands; a single white rose.

She stayed frozen in her spot, eyes wide. What in the world had he _done_?

"Sam, you might want to set those down. It's probably not a good idea to break them."

At his words, she snapped out of her trance. "Oh, sorry."

Stumbling to the table, she shakily placed the wine and glasses on it. Even though the food on her plate smelled absolutely heavenly, she couldn't really focus on eating at the moment. The white rose captured her attention, making her heart jump just a bit faster.

"Why do you have that?" she asked, pointing to the object.

Freddie cleared his throat and shuffled his feet. He felt like this was a first date where he had to present the girl of his dreams with a flower. It was definitely cliché, but then again, he was Freddie. Cliché and cheesy were things he excelled at.

"It's for you. I found it at a flower shop near the grocery store I went to. White roses are your favorite, so I figured a little surprise would be nice." He smiled warmly.

"Thanks, Frednub. You never did lose your romantic touch," she replied, referring to the table and the rose.

Shrugging his shoulders, he laughed. "Romantic is something I'm great at, my dear."

Sam giggled along with him and took her seat. Glancing down at her place, she gasped. It was entirely covered in her favorite meat products: slices of honey glazed ham, pieces of crispy bacon, spicy cabasa sausage, garlic infused chicken, and a small prime rib. In addition, there was also a helping of spaghetti with meatballs and some lasagna.

"Oh my god, Freddie. You did all of this for me?"

He nodded. "Of course. I told you I'd bring your favorites. You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"

"No, but this is amazing! How'd you cook everything in the amount of time you had? You did make all of it yourself, right?"

"Yes! What can I say? I'm fast when it comes to preparing meals for you. I learned quickly. Plus, I had a kitchen to use since my suite has one. Surprisingly, you can get a lot done in there."

"Well, thank you. But now I feel useless for bringing only the wine."

Shaking his head, he reached for the bottle. Turning it over in his hands, he let out a whistle. "Sam, do you know this is Vernaccia? It's probably one of the best and most expensive wines you can get in Italy. How'd you manage to get this?"

"Melanie got it for me. She's making a lot of her money with her fashion line, so she travels quite a bit around Europe. She vacationed in Italy for Christmas and bought me stuff. That bottle just happened to be a part of the package she sent. It seemed like it would be good for tonight, so I tossed it in the car."

"Well, I'm glad you chose to bring it. The last time I drank it was a couple of years ago at banquet for work."

"Okay, okay. Enough wine talk. Get it ready so we can dig in. I'm starving!"

He complied, popping off the cork with a loud _bang_. Tilting the bottle a bit, he poured the liquid into the glasses. As soon as he situated the drinks in front of them, he motioned with his hand.

"Alright, we can eat now."

As soon as he finished with his sentence, she dug in like she hadn't eaten for weeks. She hardly paused to swallow before stuffing more in. He quietly chuckled and began picking at his meal. He was never really passionate about food, unlike the girl who sat across from him. As he watched her eat, a small smile lit up his face.

"What are you staring at?" she mumbled around the food in her mouth.

He chuckled once more, taking a sip of wine. "Nothing. It's just that you cease to amaze me when you chow down. It's surprising you aren't involved with the restaurant business, considering your love for food."

She swallowed her latest bite and took a gulp of her drink before answering. "Do you remember how I didn't know what I wanted to study at U of W?"

Nodding, he motioned for her to continue.

"After going through several general education classes, I didn't find anything that appealed to me. I actually debated on dropping out to attend culinary school, in hopes of opening my own restaurant in the future. I researched some schools, but I knew I couldn't afford the tuition, so I chose to stay at U of W. Plus, leaving Seattle would have been too difficult anyway. It's home here."

Sam continued to attack her plate, while occasionally glancing at Freddie. She swirled her pasta around her fork and laughed. "You're probably going to ask how I got into art, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm a bit curious, Sam. I mean, you and _art_? That takes a lot of patience."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You think I don't have patience?"

"You didn't when we were kids, Princess Puckett," he responded, using her childhood nickname.

"Okay, I agree with you on that. But as much as it shocks you, I do have some now. Do you want hear the rest of the story or not?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"Once I decided to stay, I started to skim through classes that sounded interesting. I stumbled across an art class, which seemed kind of cool. Turns out, I loved it so much that I began taking as many of them as I could. Honestly, it became my passion. I knew it was impossible to get a job in art, so I figured that in order to work with it, I had to teach. I got my degree in education so I could do that. When I finished college, I sent my resume to Ridgeway because they were hiring. I guess they liked me because they put me with eighth graders."

"Wow, Sam. That's great! I'm glad everything is working out for you. It seems like you're really happy."

Shrugging her shoulders, Sam set her fork down. She pushed her plate away to signal that she was finally full.

"I guess I'm fine. What about you, though? What's your life story?"

"Mine's not nearly as exciting as yours. Basically, I graduated from Stanford with a bachelor's in computer science. I started to look for jobs around the area, but nothing captured my attention. My plan was to work for a bit and then get my masters later on. I moved to San Francisco because that's where Pear Headquarters are. They accepted me right away and that's where I am now. See? Not nearly as cool," Freddie laughed and pushed his plate away.

"I expected that because you aren't as cool as me." She gave him her signature smirk.

"Hey! I am, too!"

"No, you're not. Dude, give it up. Even after all these years, you're still the big dork you were when we first met."

He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. He had missed all the bickering and banter between them. It actually got him to act like young person, instead of the serious, busy-body he appeared to be at work.

A comfortable silence fell between the two adults as they quietly drank their wine. Sam, of course, had to be the one to break it.

"Is there dessert?" she asked with enthusiasm, while pouring herself more alcohol.

"Are you really asking that? Of course, I brought dessert!" Freddie winked before reaching into the picnic basket to pull out a whole chocolate cake.

"You had time to make all of that food _and_ a cake? Freddie, you're incredible!"

"Don't you forget it, Princess." He took out a knife to slice a piece for her.

"You're not having some?"

"Nah, I'm good. I mainly did it so you'd be happy. I know how much you _love_ chocolate."

Sam could feel a blush creep across her cheeks. How in the world did Freddie manage to say and do the sweetest things, even after all the years that had passed?

"Well, you're right. There's nothing better than chocolate. Thanks, though."

Once she ate a bite of it, she moaned softly. "This is the best dessert I've ever eaten," she murmured.

"It's better than Fat Cakes?" Freddie said in awe.

"Chizz yeah! It's to die for! How come you've never made it before?"

"I picked up the recipe today. I found it online and printed out a copy to use. I'm glad you like it, though. At least I have an advantage now, so whenever I need a favor…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, right. As if I'd let you get away with blackmailing me. Apparently, you've forgotten that no one trumps Sam Puckett when it comes to things like that."

"Whatever you say." He held up his hands in mock surrender.

She quickly polished off her dessert and smiled. "Well, that was a terrific dinner. Thank you, Freddie."

"Wow, I'm actually getting quite a few 'thank you's out of you! I'm impressed."

"You know, I can be civil when I want to be. And speaking of civility, Carly says hi."

"You've spoken to her?"

"Of course. Do you think that just because she lives in New York, she and I can't communicate with each other?"

"Well, no. But she hasn't talked to me in forever!"

"Maybe it's because you're always wrapped up in your own nerdy world! She's tried to contact you, but you must be ignoring her or something."

"Has she emailed me? Called? Texted? How has she not gotten to me?"

"She's done all three, but stopped after you didn't respond to her. You must have been busy with work. At any rate, I saw her a couple weeks ago. She bought a plane ticket for me to come visit her and I did. She said to tell you that she's doing great and loves New York."

"I'm happy for her. Is she still studying journalism?"

"As a matter of fact, she is. She's got a job now, but she's in the graduate program at NYU. She actually got one of her pieces in the New York Times, if you can believe it."

"Really? That's wonderful! I guess I've just been living under a rock then. The two of you are doing amazing things and I find out today! I feel so out of the loop."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You're not the only one. We haven't heard from you in forever, either. It's not difficult to pick up the phone, Freddie. You know that we wouldn't reject a call from you."

Freddie sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're right. I've been a jerk recently, haven't I?"

"And this is new?" Sam teased, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.

"Alright, I've been acting like a jerk for awhile. I'm sorry. I haven't been really up to talking to people. My life is pretty much centered around my job at the moment. I go to work and then head home. Occasionally, I'll attend work related parties, but nothing beyond that. To tell you the truth, it can get quite lonely over there. I definitely miss Seattle. California's great, but sometimes I wish…"

"…You were back here," she finished for him.

"Yeah. I think about it a lot, in fact."

Sam looked away in embarrassment. There had been a question clouding her mind all evening and she had to ask it. Avoiding his gaze, she turned her head to look at the rolling waves.

"So…you said that it's lonely in San Francisco?"

"Yes. I'm living in an apartment by myself. It's fairly quiet most of the time."

"By most of the time, do you mean that you're usually alone? No other girl is with you?"

"Sam," Freddie laughed. "Is this your way of asking if I'm seeing anyone?"

Behind the laughter, Freddie felt his insides churn. Was she really asking this? Did she think that there was someone else that could make his heart pound, hands sweat, and head spin like she could?

"Maybe," she replied, still keeping her eyes away from his face.

"The answer is no. I'm not dating anyone." His voice was quiet, reserved.

At this, she focused her attention back on him. Surprise dominated her features as she stared at him.

"You're not? I thought you'd have a steady girlfriend by now. I mean, you must be making a nice paycheck with Pear and you're not bad-looking. So what's the problem?"

Freddie shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "I'm not interested, I guess. I dated a couple of girls in college, but nothing was serious. Ever since I moved to San Francisco, it's been all about work. Dating hasn't been on my mind lately, you know?"

Of course it was all a lie. Freddie _had_ thought about it. Sadly, the only person he thought about dating was sitting right in front of him. Work was just an excuse for him to avoid thinking about her. However, she still entered his mind every day.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I get it."

Freddie remained silent for a couple of seconds, itching to ask his question. The butterflies in his stomach fluttered at rapid speed, causing him to feel nauseous because he feared her response.

"What about you, Sam? Are you with anyone?"

She let out a long, drawn out sigh. "No, I'm not with anyone. I had a few relationships in and out of college, but that's it. Like you, I'm living alone in an apartment."

"Oh. So you haven't found him yet? _The One?_"

"I did find him, Freddie," she whispered.

He gave her a puzzled look. "Then why aren't you dating him?"

"We…broke it off. He moved away and it hasn't been the same since. But that's life, right? No one gets a fairy tale ending."

Freddie reached across the table to take her hand, intertwining their fingers. "It doesn't have to end that way. You still have a chance with him. It's never too late for love."

He envied the person she was talking about. Whoever it was, he was definitely a lucky guy. His heart felt like it was slowly coming undone, just like the night of their breakup. She had moved on and he hadn't. In the back of his mind, he always knew she would be the one to get a second chance at love.

She didn't remove her hand from his. "It _is_ too late because he's moved on. I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"You don't know that. If you really cared about him, you'd go after him. The Sam Puckett that I know doesn't give up easily. Plus, he'd be a complete idiot to not take you back. I can't believe he let you go in the first place. If you want him, you need to make him see what he's been missing."

It absolutely tore him to pieces that he was giving Sam advice to capture the heart of another guy. The only heart he wanted Sam to have was his own. But if he was going to be a good friend, he had to tell her what she wanted to hear.

"How do I do that?"

He felt like kicking himself for his next choice of words. "You can call him right now. Tell him that he's got to get the guts to come and see you. He has to sweep you off your feet like you're a real princess. You deserve it, Sam. And I want you to be happy."

He smiled crookedly at her, trying to hold in the sadness that was raking through his body.

"You want me to call him while we're hanging out?"

"Yes. If you're okay with it, then do it. You've run away from a bunch of things and this shouldn't be one of them. If you like this guy, you need to tell him. He'll pick up and you guys will talk. Everything will work out like it's supposed to."

"Are you sure about that?" Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn't spoken in a long time.

Freddie nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I'm positive."

"Okay, here it goes."

She unwound her hand from Freddie's and reached into one of her dress pockets to pull out her Pearphone. She tapped in the number she knew by heart, bringing the device to her ear.

Suddenly, Freddie felt his pocket vibrate. A surprised expression crossed his face as he pulled it out.

"Weird. I'm getting a phone call, too," he muttered to himself, clicking on the accept button without checking the caller ID.

"Hello? This is Freddie Benson," he answered, still focusing his attention on Sam.

"Hi, Freddie," the voice said back.

He gasped out loud, clutching his phone tighter.

"Sam?" he rasped out.

He saw the girl in front of him nod as she spoke into her phone. "Yes, it's me."

"Y-you're c-calling me?" he stuttered, lowering his phone to end the call.

She followed suit, putting hers back in her pocket. "Yes. C'mon! Did you really think that I meant another guy?" The frustration was evident in her voice.

"Well, you made it seem like it was someone else…"

"You're an idiot," she spat at him. "If you can't even figure that I'm still madly in love with you, you're a bigger jerk than I thought you were. It's always been you, Freddie!"

Freddie didn't say anything in response. He just sat in silence, staring at her intensely.

She threw up her hands in anger and scowled. "This was fun and all, but I'm going to get going. You can keep the rest of the wine and the glasses. I have a bunch of them, so losing a couple doesn't matter. Like I said, have fun with the rest of your stay. Good luck back in California."

Sam stood up from her seat and began running away, trying to hide the tears that were falling from her eyes. All of a sudden, she heard heavy foot steps behind her.

"Sam!" he called out.

She kept going, not bothering to turn around at the sound of his voice. The sight of her red truck came into view and she knew only a few steps would let her escape this place.

A hand shot out and grabbed her arm, stopping her from continuing. He held her tightly, so she couldn't budge.

"Sam, stop," Freddie said breathlessly.

"Why should I?" she choked out, using her other hand to furiously wipe away the tears.

"I need you tell you something. Please listen to it," he begged.

"Let me go, Freddie. We're not kids anymore. You can't stop me from leaving."

She tried to wiggle free, but it was to no avail. After a bit of struggling, he released his hold. Once he did, she dashed off instantly. She was about to open the car door when the five most shocking words made her freeze in her spot.

"Sam, I still love you," he announced softly, but loud enough for her to hear.

She didn't move at first. It felt like her brain had shut off, so no functions could happen. She stayed where she was while Freddie came up to her. He turned her around and placed both of his hands beside her head to trap her.

"Did you hear me? I said I still love you."

Sam responded by shoving Freddie away. "Leave me alone, Benson," she hissed, yanking the door open.

She almost got in, but he pulled her out, and slammed the door forcefully.

"What the hell do you want from me?" She sounded more desperate than angry.

Instead of answering her question, he did the only thing that could make her shut up. Closing his eyes, he crashed his lips to hers, silencing her in an earth-shattering kiss.

Freddie swore he hadn't felt this alive in a _long_ time. Every part of him burned with passion and love. Wrapping his arms around her tiny waist, he drew her in closer to him. Surprisingly, she kissed back, using her fiery personality to retaliate, giving him the best pleasure in the world.

He lifted her up bridal style, without breaking the kiss. He carried her all the way back to their area, setting his body down in the sand, with her in his lap. After a couple minutes, he pulled away from their lip-lock.

"You know, you talk too much," he murmured, kissing her cheek, along her jaw, and then down her neck.

Sam sighed in contentment. "I know I do."

He made his way back up to her mouth with his lips, but before he could kiss them, she scrambled off of his lap.

"Freddie, please stop."

"Why?"

He tried to move in closer, but she held out her hand to refrain him from doing so.

"You can't do this. It isn't right."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't say that you still love when it isn't true," she whimpered, her lowering lip trembling. A fresh wave of tears began to leak out of Sam's eyes. She sniffled, lowering her head in embarrassment.

With shaking fingers, Freddie brushed the tears away. "I'm not lying, Sam. It's one hundred percent true," he said softly.

"But it's not. It was the reflex reaction to me running away like that. Please stop lying to me. It's really not fair." Her voice quivered, making her sound sounded like she was pleading.

"I'm not lying, damn it! What will it take for you to see that I'm still completely head over heels for you?"

Shaking her head, Sam frowned. "There's nothing you can do."

As soon as she said that, an idea popped into Freddie's head. "Wait, do you remember the last time we were here together?"

"Yeah, it was the night we broke up. Why are you bringing that up?"

"We made a promise that night. We said we'd always love and care for each other. Did you forget?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I haven't forgotten. My question is, why in the world does it matter at the moment?"

At her words, he exploded. "Because that's just it! I promised you that I'd never stop loving you. Well, guess what? I haven't! Don't you realize that you're the reason why I haven't seriously dated anyone else? Don't you know that you've been constantly on my mind ever since I left for college? Don't you understand that I miss everything we had and breaking up is something I regret terribly? God, Sam. You have no idea, do you?"

Sam could feel her heart breaking after he spoke. More than anything, she wanted to believe him, but couldn't. Deep down, she expected that he didn't mean it. If he had, why would be saying all of this now, instead of years ago?

"I want to believe you. I really do, but I can't. You're saying all of this right now. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't have the guts to…"

She cut him off before he could finish. "You don't mean any of it, Freddie! If you did, you would have called or visited me. We lost contact because _you_ let it happen! Look, you've moved on with your life. You went to Sanford, your dream school. You live in San Francisco and have an amazing job. You've gotten everything you've ever wanted. Stop getting stuck in the past!"

"You're wrong. You're dead wrong," he barked in response.

"I'm not wrong. You can't deny any of that."

"I mean every word I've said. And I _don't_ have everything I've ever wanted. Do you know what I'm missing?"

"Enlighten me, Benson. I'm sure I'd _love_ to know." The sarcasm was heavy in her voice.

"You! I want you! Look, I didn't tell you before because until recently, I didn't even know. I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life. As it turns out, I don't. You seem to think I've moved on, but I haven't. Sure, I'm working for Pear and have a nice apartment. So what? None of it matters if you're not with me!"

She chose to ignore him, pressing on with her issue. "You didn't answer what I wanted to know. Why are you telling me this now?"

Freddie cleared his throat, preparing to answer the loaded question. "I can't take it anymore, Sam! Not having you in my life has been killing me. The real reason why I haven't been talking to you is because I didn't want to get my hopes up. I knew getting close to you would mean heartbreak. I figured it was easier to let you go. But that didn't work because you still manage to get to me, even when you're not there. Sam, I'm still hopelessly in love with you. Not a day has passed where that hasn't been true."

Something inside of Sam snapped. Without thinking, she blurted all of the questions that were tumbling around in her head.

"What are you trying to say? Do you want me to fall into your arms and tell you that I desperately want you? Am I supposed to say that this whole living in two different states with two different lives doesn't affect us? That we'll just pick up where we left off and somehow figure it out? C'mon, Freddie. What do you expect? To live happily ever after?"

Freddie took a hold of Sam's face in his hands. "Yes to all of the above."

"We can't, Freddie. It's not possible anymore. It could have happened right after college, but definitely not now. You live in San Francisco, and I'm here in Seattle. You have a dream job at Pear, and I'm working as a teacher at Ridgeway. You actually have a social life with your colleagues. I rarely go out anymore, unless someone invites me. Let's face it. Our lives are going in two separate paths. There's no way we can make it work." She smiled sadly, removing his hands from her face, setting them back in his lap.

He wouldn't take her answer, though. He had had enough of their heartbreaking story. It was time to end it.

"But we _can_ make it work this time. If I have to leave California to come back, I will. If I have to quit my job at Pear, I will. If I have to spend the whole damn night trying to show you that I want you, then I will. I will do _anything_ to prove that I'm not leaving you behind again. Believe it or not, you are _The One_ for me. It's always been you," he whispered, reaching for hand because he craved the contact.

"I can't let you do that for me. You're not allowed to give up all that you've worked for. I believe that you love me, but it's not enough. We said that to each other nearly ten years ago. Unfortunately, it's still true. If it was enough, we would've found a way sooner. It's too late now."

"It's never too late for love," Freddie repeated, squeezing her hand.

She shook her head. "It is, though. You've worked so hard to get where you are. Just because you want me, doesn't mean you can throw it all away. You need to forget all about this, go back to San Francisco, and enjoy it over there. You've looked after me for too long. It's time you focus on yourself."

Freddie could feel Sam slowly slipping away, but he wouldn't let her go. Not this time. He had lost her once and wasn't about go down that painful road again.

"Samantha Joy Puckett, shut up for five minutes, okay? I need to say something."

"Well, talk then." She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

"I'm not throwing my life away. As much as I love my job, I'd be willing to leave it if it meant being near you. Really, I'm not having that great of a time. I work constantly without breaks, I live alone in an empty apartment, and I'm only social when my co-workers drag me out of my office. I want to come back to Seattle and stay here for good. Seattle is home and even though San Francisco is cool, it isn't. College was the best part about moving, but now that it's over, there's nothing to look forward to."

"Are you just going to quit? I know there's Pear related things in Seattle, but it's nothing like the San Francisco Headquarters," Sam said quietly.

He leaned in close, placing his mouth near her ear. "Yes, I'll quit. I'll make up some excuse and leave. My position is high, so the Seattle Pear company will take me. If that doesn't work, I'll find another job. I graduated at the top of my class at Stanford, which makes me very employable."

He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder and trailed his lips upwards. He could hear her sigh as her will began to crumble. After a couple of seconds, he stopped his actions and pulled back to look at her.

"Is love finally enough now, Freddie?"

It was her last argument. Honestly, she could feel herself caving. But she couldn't do that to him. She had to stay strong for both of them.

"It is enough, Sam. When we were 17, we had no idea what we were doing. We broke up because we weren't ready. Well, we've matured since then and figured out what we wanted. You said that if it happened to be the same thing, we'd be together again. I think we've both decided that we just want each other." He paused to take a deep breath before continuing.

"We have what it takes to make this work now. We can compromise and learn to love each other's flaws. Sam, I don't want to lose you a second time. Can't you give into what your heart wants? Ignore everything else and focus on what you truly desire?"

Sam's insides felt like they were on fire. How could she deny him anything if he pleaded her this way? It wasn't fair! All she really wanted to do was fall into his arms, agree to everything, and become his again. Still, she hesitated.

"I don't know, Freddie. I have no idea how we're going to manage this…"

"Sam," Freddie said, thinking of the one thing that would make her say yes. "I'll make you a promise, alright? You can never say no to those. I promise to never let you go again. I'm not going to put myself through all of that pain. No matter where we go in life, I promise to always be by your side. I'm not leaving again. I love you too much for that to happen."

Before he could even register Sam's reaction, he saw her lunge at him, attaching their lips in a blazing kiss. The kiss was filled with passion, love, promise, and agreement. It was, without a doubt, the best one he'd ever had.

Once they pulled back for air, he said, "I'm assuming that you're okay with the promise?"

"Yes, now shut up and kiss me again," Sam growled playfully.

Freddie happily obliged, leaning in for their lips to meet. He wound his arms around her small frame, pulling her flush against him. They were so close that each person could feel the other's heartbeat.

It was as if they were joined together, both by their hearts and minds. They knew that letting go was impossible because their biggest question had been answered: love was finally enough now.

* * *

True to his word, Freddie quit his job at Pear Headquarters in San Francisco. His boss wasn't thrilled with his decision, but agreed to put in a call to Pear's Seattle branch. Because of his high position, the Seattle Pear Company immediately accepted him, offering him the same benefits as his other job.

He moved out of his apartment and into Sam's, which was big enough for the both of them. Their relationship was a bit rocky at first, but it didn't long for them to pick off where they left off. And of course, they told everyone about their rekindled romance. Sam and Freddie were met with many sayings of "I told you so! You two complete each other, so it was only a matter of time before this happened!"

Freddie kept his promise with all of his heart. There was no way he'd ever let Samantha Puckett get away from him again. In fact, he had something planned for the future. There was only one thing on Freddie's mind since he'd gotten back together with her. Let's just say it involved a couple of years, some money, a cruise on the Pacific Ocean, fireworks, a certain gem, and a very surprised Sam.

**_Review,__ please?_**


	6. Chap 6: Amethysts That Dazzle

**A/N:**

_ I'm so sorry for the wait on this! Life's been keeping me way too busy lately. But it's finally here! Nothing much to say other than, enjoy. Oh, there will be a link at the bottom of the page if anyone wants to check out a specific picture. It might help visualize a part of the chapter :)_**  
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**Disclaimer:  
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_iCarly is still Dan Schneider's property, and not mine. Also, I don't own A Thousand Years because that's Christina Perri's song. There's one line I used from Criminal Minds, which I don't own, either. I wonder if anyone will be able to spot it..._**  
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* * *

"Do I really have to wear a stupid, fancy gown?" Sam groaned from the bathroom.

"Yes, sweetheart. You do have to dress nicely for tonight," Freddie said, not bothering to look up from the laptop balanced on his lap.

"But why? You've seen me a million times without one and still think I'm beautiful," she protested, the irritation evident in her voice.

Freddie sighed, closed his computer, and placed it on the night stand. Obviously, he wasn't going to get any work done. Whenever Sam wanted to petition her way out of something, he usually spent at least half an hour trying to convince her to see his way. Sometimes he was unsuccessful, which usually led to hour-long arguments and occasionally, a night on the couch for Freddie.

"It's a special occasion, Sam. I wouldn't make you dress up if it wasn't. Look, I know you don't like wearing extravagant things, but I guarantee you won't regret this. Please? For your amazing, loveable boyfriend?" he pleaded.

"You left out the dorky part," she snickered, stepping into the bedroom with her fluffy, white robe on.

"Of course I did." He rolled his brown eyes and got off of their bed. Walking over to his girlfriend, he placed his arms around her waist, pulling her against him.

"Will you do it?" he whispered next to her ear, trailing kisses from her cheek to her throat.

She felt like she couldn't breathe. Damn him for using unfair tactics to get her to agree to whatever he wanted. She _hated_ when he did that because her normal tough-girl, sarcastic cover crumbled instantly. He was the only person in the world that could make her melt right on the spot. She thought it was both incredibly mortifying and utterly romantic.

"I g-guess so," she stuttered, feeling her eyes fall shut as he continued kissing her cheeks, forehead, neck, and shoulders.

He stopped a few moments later, staring at her incredulously. "You know, you're starting to get weak on me. Since when does the big, bad Sam Puckett agree so easily to getting dressed up?"

Her eyes flashed open at the statement. She could tell that he was trying hard not to laugh, but he didn't succeed. His body shook, as waves of laughter coursed through him. His hot breath blew against her face, causing it to suddenly feel warm.

"I hate you, Freddie Benson. So much," she croaked out, swatting at her stomach, in hopes of containing the imaginary, vicious butterflies flapping around in there.

"I love you, too, baby," he murmured in response, pressing his lips to hers in a searing, passionate kiss.

"Mhhm, baby," Sam hummed against his mouth.

"Yes?"

She pulled away from him with twinkling blue eyes. Quirking a brow, she curled her lips into a seductive smile. She pointed to the article of clothing on her body. "Do you want to remove this, or shall I?"

"Sam…we shouldn't. You need get ready for tonight. I'll lend you my credit card, and you can go to the expensive dress place that's around the corner from the Crownridge Mall. Get anything you want from there, and I'll pay for it. Please?"

He blinked at her, feeling his cheeks flush scarlet red. Boy, did he want to right now. Seeing her in just a bathrobe was doing things to him. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, he felt sweat pooling there.

"You don't want a piece of this," she scoffed, motioning to herself.

He groaned. "I do, but—"

"Well, if you did, you'd take me. C'mon, Benson. I know you want me." She moved behind him and began tracing her fingers along his back, stopping where his hair met the nape of his neck. "You can't deny the Puckett charm." She allowed her lips to ghost over his skin.

"Y-you n-n-need to get r-eady," Freddie replied, stumbling over his words.

"Look who's the weak one now." She continued her ministrations, leaving hot kisses along his shoulder, the back of his neck, around his ears. In one quick movement, she grabbed his right earlobe between her teeth, which she knew was his sweet spot. Whenever she did that, he would do pretty much anything she desired.

"Oh, screw getting ready! Come here, you little demon," he growled playfully, spinning around to capture Sam's lips in another blazing kiss.

"That's more like it."

"I hate you, Sam Puckett." He drew back to take off her robe, and proceeded to push her onto the bed.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Two hours later, Sam was freshly showered, dressed, and ready to do damage to her boyfriend's credit card. Freddie was still sprawled in bed with his boxers on, staring at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath. He had his hands behind his head, while his mind spun from the ecstasy he had just experienced. Being with Sam in _that_ way was simply amazing. There were no words that could describe the pure beauty of it.

"Yo, Moron. Are you going to lie there all day? Or are you actually going to get off your butt at some point?" Sam's voice cut through his thoughts.

"No, I'm good." He turned to grin cheekily at her.

"Oh, God. You're still high off of our love-making, aren't you?"

"Ah! You finally called it love-making!" he shouted triumphantly.

Sam rolled her blue eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Whatever. I'm only saying it because you complain all of the time about my vulgar language. It's not like 'fucking' and 'sex' are that bad."

"Sam! How many times have I said that's not what we're doing each time we get into bed together? We're making love!"

"Don't be such a pansy."

"Hey! You have no room to talk. Remember the time with the rose petals and candles? You said that was one of the best nights you'd ever had! You looooooved it," he cooed.

"Shut up, Benson." She uncrossed her arms, and walked over to the closet to grab her purse. Hooking it around her right arm, she moved closer to Freddie. She sat down on the bed, looming over her boyfriend's body.

"You know how much I love you, right?" he asked sincerely, snapping them out of their playful banter.

Her face softened, as she bent down to kiss his forehead. "I know, baby. And it bugs me to admit it, but I'm pretty crazy about you as well."

"I know how you crazy you are about me. You were pretty vocal while we were making love. If I recall it went a little like this: 'Freddie, I love you, baby! and 'Don't stop, please!' and 'Damn, you're doing unbelievable things to me right now!'" His mouth twitched into his signature smirk, while he winked at her.

Before Sam could stop herself, she used her strong hand to smack him upside the head.

"OW! What was that for?" His hand automatically went to the throbbing spot where she had hit him. He started to rub it, willing the sharp pain to go away.

"For being a smart ass. None of that leaves this room, got it?" she threatened, raising her fist.

"Okay. I got it." Freddie sat up, smiling. "You know, you're still as aggressive as you were when we met the first time. I guess that's never going to change, is it?"

"Nope. I wouldn't be me if I was some daffodil. I do have my slightly less violent sides, which only you and Carly get to see. But that's it." She shrugged.

"Right. Out of everyone else in the world, I had choose to love a blonde headed demon, didn't I?"

"Of course," she laughed. "Anyway, I've got to get moving. If you want me dressed and all made up for tonight, then I'm going to head out now. Stay out of trouble while I'm gone, okay?"

"Like I'm the one that's going to get into trouble. I believe that's you, my dear."

"Shut up, or I'll hit you again!"

"Fine. But can I get some lip service before you leave?"

"No way. You've been acting like a smart ass, so you don't get any sugar from Mama!"

"That's so not fair! I wasn't that mean. You've said way worse things to me before. Do I have to remind you about those times through middle and high school where you physically and emotionally damaged me?"

"Whatever, nub. You know you liked it when I tormented you." She smiled, jumping off the bed to make her way to the door.

"No lip service for you, Mr. Benson. Maybe later, you'll get some." She blew him a kiss, before slipping out of the room.

Freddie laid back down, rolling over so his face was planted in a pillow. "She is the only person that can torture me like that and get away with it," he mumbled into the cloth.

A loud vibration sounded from the night stand, making Freddie shoot up from his position. Reaching over, he grabbed the device and clicked the "call accept'' button.

"Hello? It's Freddie," he answered, stretching his arms above his head.

"Freddie! You finally picked your stupid phone up! I've called, like, a hundred times already today," the voice announced irritably.

"Sorry, Carly. I was, uh, busy with Sam," he said sheepishly, while his cheeks heated up.

"Ew! I don't need to know about that part of your life."

"Well, you asked why I didn't pick up. That's why, silly."

"Ugh, forget I asked. You do realize that the image of my two best friends screwing each other like animals really makes me sick to my stomach, right?"

"Hey! We do not 'screw each other like animals.' We simply make love."

"Okay. If that's what you want to call it. Sam says you guys do something else."

"I'm trying to break her out of that habit. Her use of profanity is something I'm not a fan of."

"Freddie," Carly sighed. "'Sex' and 'fucking' are not the most horrible words in the English dictionary."

"Maybe not, but I still don't like them! Anyway, I did not answer the phone to talk to you about what Sam and I do in bed. What did you need?"

The brunette girl on the other end of the line giggled. "I wanted to see how you were. I know tonight's the big night, so I figured a Carly Shay pep talk might do you some good. You're probably as nervous as ever."

He blew out a relieved breath. "Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm freaking out, Carls. I have no idea how she's going to take it."

"C'mon, dude! Are you seriously worried she'll say no?"

"Kind of. What if she won't accept because she thinks the whole thing is too corny? Either that, or she'd probably laugh, call me a nub, and proceed to throw a pie in my face." He clutched the phone tighter to his ear, as his breaths came out ragged.

"Oh my God! Listen to me, Fredward Benson. You've been in love with Sam for so many years I've practically lost count. You love every aspect about her, even the hard parts to adore. And I know for a fact that she's head over heels for you, too. The love you guys share only comes once in a life time. Fate brought the two of you back together, after nearly 10 years of being apart. Now that you've been with her for 2 years, I think it's the right moment to do this. You're 29, and if you don't do something soon, you'll eventually run out of time. A girl won't wait forever for a guy, no matter how much she loves him. Don't be a chicken and just ask her!"

Freddie could feel his lips arch into a huge grin. "Now there's the Carly Shay pep talk I was looking forward to hearing."

"Thanks. I've never lost my touch, you know. At any rate, you shouldn't be nervous. She will say yes, without a doubt. Sam doesn't let a lot of people into her life, and the ones she does are fortunate. You're extremely lucky because she's let you in _and_ she loves you. Never forget that."

"I know. And thank you. You really are an awesome friend."

"Trust me; I'm perfectly aware of that."

He chose to ignore her comment, so he could change the subject. "So the cruise is all set to go. I called and made sure first thing in the morning. We're going away for the weekend, so I already told her to pack a bag for herself. I sent her out a few minutes ago to go shop for an outfit for tonight. Hopefully, that will keep her preoccupied for awhile."

"Good idea. That way, she won't poke around the apartment and bug you about the plans. By the way, what did you tell her so she wouldn't suspect anything?"

"I said it was work related, and that my boss invited me to a banquet dinner where my girlfriend could come, too."

"Don't you mean fiancée?'

"Shhh! Don't jinx it, Shay!"

"Whatever, Benson," she shot back, and Freddie could imagine her sticking her tongue out at him.

"I don't want anything bad to happen before I can ask her, okay? This has got to the _perfect_ night."

"It will be! Stop freaking out. It will end up exactly how you imagined it. All you have to do is stay calm and remind yourself not to pass out halfway through it."

"That's so encouraging. I really needed to hear that." He rolled his eyes, shifting his body so that his feet touched the ground.

"Any time, buddy. How's the ring?"

"It's lying in one of the pockets of my tuxedo pants as we speak. I got the size from one of Sam's other rings, so it should fit."

"Nice. I'm sure she will send me a trillion pictures of it once she has it on her hand."

"What did I say about jinxing it?"

"Oops, sorry." Although, she hardly sounded apologetic.

"Go ahead and mock me, but I won't quit stressing until a 'yes' comes out of her mouth."

"Fine. Have it your way. I would love to talk more, but I have to get back to work. The New York Times wants me to write another piece for them. Apparently, the dead line is in a couple of days, so I have to begin organizing my ideas. I had to check on you first before I started doing that, though."

"Well, thanks for the pep talk; it helped. I'm just putting this out there, but I honestly wish you were with us. Both Sam and I miss you a lot, and it doesn't feel right without you here to experience this with us," he sighed.

"I know. I wish I was there, too. But I will definitely show up for the wedding!"

"CARLY!"

"Alright, I'll stop. Tell me how tonight goes, please. Call me as soon as you get an answer."

"I will. Talk to you later."

"Bye, Freddie. And good luck!" With that, she clicked off.

Freddie dropped his phone on the bed once he finished talking to Carly. Burying his face in his hands, he muttered, "I'm going to need it."

* * *

Freddie stared at himself in the mirror, tightening his bow tie over and over again. He felt like each time he tried to fix it, it kept getting worse. But he knew if he continued to mess with the item around his neck, he might choke himself. Sighing, he tossed his hands in the air in defeat.

"You know, it'd be quite depressing if you killed yourself before we actually left," Sam's mocking voice said from behind him.

"Very funny," he responded, the sarcasm heavy in his tone.

"I'm joking, baby. Chill out."

"I know. I guess I'm just nervous."

Spinning around to face his girlfriend, Freddie suddenly felt like the wind was knocked out of him. The image of Sam in a red silk gown that clung to her body was enough to make any man drop dead to the ground. His eyes traveled up and over her, from the bottom of her white stiletto-clad feet to the top of her head, which included her straightened blonde locks. However, he chose to settle on her face. She wore little make up, but it didn't matter to him. What really drew him in were her crystal clear blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle more than normal at the moment. Her lightly dusted pink lips curved into a smile that could have lit up the room.

"You're staring, Freddie." She took a step closer to him.

"Y-you…are beyond b-beautiful, S-am. I d-don't know what t-to say," he stuttered hopelessly.

Sam reached out to gently stroke the side of his face with her fingers. Raising an eyebrow, she laughed softly. "I don't you if you've realized this, but you've lost a lot of your eloquence. You used to be so good with words. And now look at you. You can barely form a coherent sentence around me anymore."

Shaking his head to clear it of the ungentlemanly images of the girl in front of him, Freddie sighed. "I know. It seems like the more time I spend with you, the more speechless I become. How do you do that?"

"What can I say? I'm magical." She leaned in plant her mouth on his.

He hungrily kissed her back, using his arms to clutch her around her waist. After what seemed like a century later, the couple pulled a part, breathing heavily.

"You clean up well, too. I'm liking this tux you have on," she panted, gripping the lapels of his jacket.

"Thank you, Princess Puckett. I'm glad you find my outfit acceptable." He winked, giving her a small kiss on the temple.

"Although, I think I'd like it better on the floor." She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"SAM! Not now, baby! We've got to leave in, like, 2 minutes. We'll be able to do it later on tonight. Actually, we have the whole weekend, if you want," he said, trying to compromise.

She pouted. "Why can't we do it now? What if we make it a quickie? I bet we can do it pretty fast."

Groaning loudly, Freddie moved away from her because the close proximity was driving him insane. "We don't have time! You know that I would love to, but we can't afford to stay here any longer. Just wait a few more hours, sweetheart. Be patient, and it will be worth it."

"Ugh, alright. But it's not my fault that I want to jump you every time I lay my eyes on you."

"Aw, thanks. It's hard for me to keep my hands of you, too. We can always make love, Sam. This banquet is only happening tonight, and I know for a fact that it's important. It's possible that I might even get a promotion!"

Sam snorted, rolling her eyes. "You and your nubby job."

"Hey! My job happens to get us things we need and want. It put money on my card, which got you your dress and heels today."

"I spent it because you forced me to. I have cash myself, you know. I could have paid for it with the money that I make from teaching."

He shook his head. "How is possible that I lose pretty much every argument we have?"

"Freddie, it's always been that way. Ever since our first encounter," she laughed.

"Right. Only I would subject myself to this kind of torture for so many years."

"Yes, you would. Anyway, didn't you say we have to get moving? If we're going to arrive on time to your dinner, then we better leave now."

"Okay, let's go then! Your suit case is fully packed, right?"

"Yup. It's over there." She pointed to the small black bag in the corner of the room. "I still don't know why you told me to pack for the weekend. Isn't the banquet tonight? What's the point in having my stuff for 3 extra days?"

"Well, I figured that after tonight, we could take a trip somewhere. The dinner is here in Seattle, so we could maybe take off after it. We don't have to have a specific destination in mind or anything. I'd just like to drive around with my baby."

He smiled sincerely, but on the inside he felt incredibly guilty. Freddie hated lying to Sam, but he knew it was necessary. She couldn't find out about his surprise until later on.

"That sounds fun. I usually hate road trips, but with you, I wouldn't mind. I accept, Freddie Benson," she said, grinning.

"Great. We've stalled enough, though. Time to head out!" He grabbed her hand, the suitcases, and dashed out the door at lightning speed. But seemed as if Freddie's heart was beating faster than the pace he was moving.

_Don't mess this up, Benson_, he thought to himself as he rapidly drove on the winding Washington roads. _Everything you've worked for is resting on tonight. Please just let it go smoothly. _

"Baby, are you alright? You've been awfully quiet for the last ten minutes," Sam said, breaking Freddie out of his trance.

He let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I'm good. Like I said, I'm a bit nervous is all."

She reached out to soothingly rub his knee. "About the promotion?"

"Yes. I have a lot riding on it, you know? Ever since I transferred from the San Francisco Headquarters to the Seattle Branch, I have no idea where I honestly stand. I know they like me, but it'd be nice for them to prove it by giving me a promotion." He had to bite his lip from spilling truth.

"I get it. I hope everything works out the way you want it to. Pear might be one of the dorkiest things out there, but if it makes you happy, then I'm glad."

He smiled in response. "Thanks, Sam. That means a lot."

"Welcome. You repeat any of this, and you're a dead man."

"Trust me; you've made that blatantly clear. I wouldn't dream of mentioning it to anybody else."

The rest of the drive continued on in comfortable silence, until Freddie reached a very familiar parking lot overlooking a very familiar place.

"The party is at the beach?" she questioned, raising both of her eyebrows in surprise.

"Nope. This is sort of a pit stop. We're walking to the banquet."

He cut the engine, pulled the key out of the ignition, opened his car door, got the luggage out, and walked to the other side to grab Sam's door.

Placing his hand out like a gentleman, he said, "Follow me, m'lady."

"Yes, Sir. However, these heels were not made for walking in the sand."

"Then I'll carry you."

"What? Oh, no. You are not—"

She was interrupted by Freddie picking her up piggy-back style. He began carrying her along the sandy ground, while rolling the suitcases along. She beat him relentlessly with her fist, shouting curse words at him. She _so_ didn't enjoy being toted around like that, at least not when she was 29.

"Put me down!" she demanded. "I'm going to kill you, Benson!"

"Hey, you said that you couldn't go across the surface in your shoes. You can't blame me for trying to help you out."

"But you don't have to carry me! I feel like a child." She pouted, sticking out her bottom lip.

He stopped suddenly, with her still in his arms. "Too bad. You can walk yourself, you know. I'm only being a good boyfriend by doing you a favor. If the sand is going to bother you like you say it will, then this arrangement will work best. If not, go ahead and get down. I don't think you want to get dirty before we have dinner, though. Since this is a black tie event."

"Fine," she sighed. "Carry me away."

He snorted, as he started to move again. "Why am I always your servant when it comes to everything?"

"Because you decided to fall in love with me. You knew by doing that, you'd get the short end of the bargain. You could have totally picked a girl that would have waited on you hand and foot, but you got me instead. Don't you feel lucky?" she giggled, nuzzling her nose against his neck.

"Yes, I am lucky. But you're way off on the whole falling in love part. I didn't fall in love; I was pushed by a blonde headed demon by the name of Samantha Puckett." He grinned, twisting his head around to peck her on the cheek.

"Shut up." She rolled her eyes, but small smile remained on her lips.

After walking several miles, Freddie finally stopped at a dock. Bobbing in the water was a large, white ship. It resembled the Titanic in a way, both in size and in elegance. Sam gasped at the sight, turning her attention to Freddie to stare at him in pure confusion. A million questions swam around in her mind, and the obvious came tumbling out of her mouth.

"Freddie, what are we doing in the middle of nowhere with a giant ship near a dock?"

He gently set her and the bags down. He knew this was going to be one of the rough parts of the evening: telling her his lie.

Rubbing the back of his neck (which he usually did when he was nervous), he let out a sigh. "Sam," he began carefully. "There is no banquet tonight, per see. Not for my job, at least."

"WHAT?! YOU BROUGHT ME HERE WHEN IT'S NOT EVEN WORK RELATED!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

He had to cover his ears at the sound. It was almost as bad as the time when he got hit by the bike messenger, fell into a fire hydrant, and loss some of his hearing.

"Please listen to me, Sam. Look, I understand you're angry that I lied and drug you all the way out here, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I had to say it was tied to my job, or else you wouldn't have come. This entire weekend is supposed to special because we're going on a cruise on that ship over there." He pointed to the object, and then spoke to her again. "Don't be mad at me. I really wanted to tell you earlier, but it would have ruined it. Surprises aren't your thing, I realize, but this one was good enough that I thought you wouldn't mind."

He gazed at her, hoping with every fiber of his being that she wasn't going to walk away right then and there, before he could even get the proposal.

She stared back wordlessly, with an intense expression on her face. Freddie gulped. That look only meant two things: she was going to viciously murder him, or she was going to attack him with her lips. He seriously wished it was the latter.

"Let me get this straight," she said in a low voice. "You made me use your credit card to buy myself an outfit for tonight, pack up my belongings for 3 days, and stay in the car with you as you drove to the beach so we could get on an enormous cruise ship for the whole weekend?"

"Yes," he answered in a shaky breath.

The next thing Freddie knew, he was almost tackled to the ground by his girlfriend. He found that his lips were suddenly very busy. Apparently, she had chosen the latter because he didn't find himself unconscious as she loomed over him, using the suitcases to kill him. But he had to find the courage to pull back after several minutes of kissing.

"You're not mad?" he asked hesitantly, moving his hand to brush a stray curl away from her face.

"Why would I be? This has got to be the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me. Granted, you're the one that's done most of the sweet things for me, but still. I can't believe it we're going on a cruise! It kind of feels like a dream." She was breathless, smiling widely.

"Well, good. It's nice that you approve." He flashed her a grin, before taking her hand and the bags. "We've got to hurry. The cruise leaves any minute now, and we have to get on it."

They raced onto the dock, hastily making their way inside of the ship. It began moving away from the dock, beginning its journey shortly after their arrival. Freddie had to check in before they could settle down, so they waited around for a bit, while the manager figured out the reservation, the room, and everything else. As soon as it all got solved, the couple found the room they would be staying in.

Freddie stuck the key in the hole, twisted the knob, and opened the heavy wooden door. He got in first, and switched on the light. When Sam stepped into the room, her eyes widened at the sight. She let out another gasp, aimlessly wandering around the place.

There was a humongous king sized bed sitting in the middle of the room, with wooden night stands on either side. A Jacuzzi sat two feet away from the bed, with a bottle of champagne nestled into a basket inside. Also in the basket lay two champagne flutes, a box of chocolate covered strawberries, and a container of strawberry scented bubble bath. On the opposite side of the room, a flat screened TV rested on the wall, complete with a state-of-the-art sound system. There was hand carved wooden desk pushed against a wall, with a wooden chair to go along with it. The last few pieces of furniture were a couch and a couple of comfortable looking chairs.

Sam noticed two other rooms as part of the suite, so she went into those. Inside one was the official bathroom, which included a vanity with a granite countertop, a marble floor, a huge Hollywood style mirror with light bulbs, and a glass enclosed shower. The toilet even looked porcelain.

She assumed the other room was the closet, and she was right. Except, this wasn't a normal closet. It was a walk-in one, with a three hundred sixty degree mirror on the inside. She felt like her eyes couldn't have gotten bigger due to all of the sights.

"Freddie," she said after exploring. "How on Earth did you afford this whole trip?"

He shrugged, tossing the suitcases on the bed. "I asked for an early paycheck. My boss decided to give it to me since I've worked awfully hard for the past couple of months. I wanted the weekend to be special, so I used it all on the vacation. Plus, I know work has been keeping you busy, too. Thought that we both needed some time off. It's really not a big deal."

Of course, he was down playing it. He had to literally beg his boss to come up with some cash for the expense. It was definitely _not_ cheap, to say the least. But this was the big moment, and he would have risked going into debt for ten years, just as long as tonight went perfectly. At the rate he was going, he would be in debt for almost that amount of time.

"You don't think this is a big deal?" She sounded shocked.

Shrugging once more, he shook his head. "Sam, I wanted to do this for us. Don't worry about how much I spent on it, okay? All that matters is that we have fun while we're here."

In three strides, she made her way to him. Throwing her arms around his neck, she leaned her forehead against his. She closed her eyes, as a soft sigh escaped her lips.

"I love you so much, Freddie. Sometimes I feel like I'm living a real fairytale with the way you treat me. I know I'm far from an actual princess, but you're the kind of prince that every girl dreams of. The kind that are handsome, slay monsters, and help heal the part of the princess that got hurt when she was messed with by other so-called princes. You are my Prince Charming. Please don't forget that," she murmured.

"I won't," he responded quietly. "I will never forget. But don't give me all of the credit. I may be your Prince Charming, but you're my Princess Puckett. There's only one of those in the world, and I'm the luckiest guy because she's mine. I love you, too."

Leaning forward, he kissed her in the most gentle, romantic way. Instead of heated and passionate, it was slow and desiring. Eventually, they both pulled apart and looked at each other with stars in their eyes.

"C'mon. We better get some dinner. If I remember correctly, you love boat food. And I think this boat food will be better than the other kind you had." He beamed at her, reaching for her hand to intertwine their fingers.

"You're right. Let's get out of here, so I can eat," she laughed, and followed him out.

However, before they could make it to the dining hall, Sam stopped in her tracks to admire the beauty around her. She edged closer to the railing of the ship, and saw how brilliant blue the water was. It shined so wonderfully in the evening sunlight. Endless miles of blue stretched on, seeming to go on forever. A light breeze drifted through the air, flipping her hair around. Every once in a while, a small spray of salt water would splash her, but she didn't care. It was just so peaceful and stunning that nothing could have ruined the moment.

"Wow, it's amazing." She shifted her attention back to Freddie. "It still feels surreal, you know? Earlier today, I had no idea that I would be standing on a cruise tonight, overlooking the same ocean that we've played in since we were kids."

"I know exactly what you mean. I find it hard to believe, too."

"You planned it, though. At least you had some clue."

"Not much. I didn't think it would look this picturesque."

"There you go being a nub again." Rolling her eyes, she giggled. "That's never going to change."

"Nope. I wouldn't be me if I was all suave and sophisticated, would I?" He wiggled his eyebrows in his dorky, but cute way that she adored.

"Right. Anyway, where does this cruise even go? You haven't told me yet."

"Uh, to be honest, I don't know. I just picked it out because it left from our beach. Every big memory we've had has happened at the beach, and I didn't want this one to be an exception. I guess the whole trip will be a surprise. The only thing I know for sure is that we'll be back by Sunday night because we both have to work the following day. Yes, apparently, cruises can be short."

What didn't dawn on Freddie was he already let a part of the night slip out. And unfortunately for him, Sam caught it.

"You said that each of our big memories has happened at the beach. Why is this going to be one of those? I get that it's special with the cruise, but I feel like you're hiding something from me." She glared at him, using her _tell-me-whatever-it-is-that's-on-your-mind_ look.

"Sam," he sighed. "I'll explain later tonight, alright? You have to be patient. It will work out in end."

She groaned. "I can be patient for two people in this world: you and Carly. You better thank the lords that I'm able to hold it out for you. Otherwise, I would smack you as many times as I wanted to, so I could get the information out of you."

"You hit me anyway. How are you cutting me slack?"

"After hitting you, I would then kiss all of your bruises and sore spots." Her lips curved into a smirk.

"Sounds like a good compensation."

"Definitely. Okay, we've talked long enough. I want food now!"

"Yes, Madam. Right this way."

He started to lead her towards the dining hall (at least that's where he thought it was, judging by the aroma coming from the place).

On the way there, he couldn't help but think, _So far so good. If everything else goes accordingly, I'll have myself a fiancée. A crazy, lovable fiancée. _

God, he could only hope.

* * *

After a fantastic eight course meal and two hours of dancing (yes, Freddie dragged Sam out on the floor), they were back at the railing of the ship. Night had fallen, and the full moon casted a limited amount of light on them. The water appeared black in the darkness, but it continued to captivate Sam. The artist in her wouldn't let it go. She wished she had brought her sketch book and pencil kit with her. She could have come up with a thousand drawings based off of the scenery.

"Did you have a nice time?" Freddie's silky voice rang in Sam's ear as he hugged her from behind.

"Yes," she breathed. "I had an incredible time." She leaned into him, resting the back of her head on his shoulder.

"Well, it's not entirely over yet," he whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have to follow me."

He disentangled himself, and grabbed her arm. His heart started to pound in his chest at an alarmingly fast rate. He swore that everyone on the cruise could have heard it. Weaving through the crowds, he led her down a long corridor, past a ton of doors, before reaching a specific one.

"Where are we?" she asked, feeling lost.

"I'll show you." His voice shook, but he tried his hardest to keep his cool.

Pushing open the door, he guided both of them inside. Turning on light, Sam immediately noticed an empty room, except for a baby grand piano sitting off to the side.

"Freddie, what is this?"

He didn't answer, but walked over to the piece of musical equipment, pulling her along. When he got to the piano, he sat down on the bench, and motioned for her to do the same.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but hold on to them. You always say that I'm good with words, right?"

She nodded, with a puzzled expression on her face. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"You see, I wanted to try something a little different. Instead of telling you a bunch of stuff, I'm going to play you a song. All you have to do is listen, okay?"

Sam swallowed thickly and nodded once more. "Okay," she answered nervously. It irked her that she couldn't ask questions since they wanted to leap out of her mouth.

Before Freddie could place his fingers on the keys, Sam jumped in with a question. She couldn't help herself.

"You play the piano?"

"I took a class or two in music at Stanford. It's essentially all math anyway."

"Of course it is," she said underneath her breath, so Freddie couldn't catch it.

His fingers hit the keys, and a soft tune sounded from the piano. Sam knew what he was playing right away.

"Christina Perri's _A Thousand Years_," she announced in a quiet voice.

"Yup," he confirmed. Then, he opened his mouth to sing.

* * *

_Heart beats fast _

_Colors and promises_

_How to be brave_

_How can I love when I'm afraid to fall? _

_But watching you stand alone _

_All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow_

_One step closer_

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling, don't be afraid _

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_Time stands still_

_Beauty in all she is_

_I will be brave_

_I will not let anything take away_

_What's standing in front of me_

_Every breath _

_Every hour has come to this_

_One step closer_

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling, don't be afraid _

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has your brought heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_One step closer_

_One step closer _

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling, don't be afraid_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has your brought heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

* * *

By the time Freddie finished with the song, tears shined in Sam's eyes. She had to stop herself from throwing her body into Freddie's arms and sobbing hysterically. Never in her entire life had she experienced something so genuine and beautiful.

"Oh my God, Freddie. That was unbelievable," she managed to choke out, feeling speechless. Honestly, she didn't know what to say after that.

He looked like he was trying to hold back tears. Seeing her cry made him want to as well, but he had to make it through the last part.

"Sam," he said shakily. "I need to ask you something."

"What is it?" She wiped at her eyes, hoping the tears would quit flowing.

He touched the box his pocket to secure that the ring was still there. Luckily, it was, and he proceeded to get off of the bench. He reached for Sam's hand, feeling his stomach doing chart wheels.

_Please,_ he thought._ Please let this go like I had planned._

Sinking down to one knee, he pulled the box out. Popping open the lid to reveal the dazzling amethyst ring inside, he took a deep breath. He saw Sam's other hand fly to her mouth, inevitably trying to cover up the gasp that would escape. As far he could tell, she knew exactly what he was doing.

"Samantha Joy Puckett, I have loved you for nearly a thousand years. At least it seems that way. Ever since the day we met, I have not been able to get you out of my head. Even though I was 7 at the time, and obviously unsure of my feelings, I still knew that meeting you was fate. I was incredibly lucky to have spent so much time with you in my life. We've had our ups and downs, which included our initial get-together and a horrible break-up. The break-up made me see that I cannot let you go ever again. And I realize that I don't want a future without you in it. That is why I want to spend every single day of the rest of my life with you. I want to finally make it official, and call you mine forever. I know we're Sam and Freddie, so nothing will be conventional, but that's what makes us so unique. I'm not saying it will be easy, but now we can talk about our problems, instead of having stupid fights about them. And if this is really going to happen, then I promise to protect you always. I will fight off all the monsters that bother you. I promise to stay loyal to you, as long as we're together, which will be forever. I promise to do anything I can to make this work, even if it means rolling out of bed at 2 o'clock in the morning to fetch you some ridiculous thing, as long as it makes you happy. And most importantly, I understand how long forever is, and I promise, with everything in me that our hearts will stay together for that amount of time. So Samantha, will you marry me?"

Freddie watched her with a frightened look. He felt ready to pass out at any second, and truthfully, he would have, had he not been waiting for her response. The rush of his heartbeat flooded his ears, so he wondered if he could even hear her say anything. After a couple of seconds, she spoke.

"How long did it take you to write the proposal speech?" she asked, as tears poured from her eyes, running down her cheeks.

"Awhile," he said, as his stomach and head spun around and around.

"You could have made it shorter, you know. I would have said yes anyway."

"Yes, I know. But I wanted it to be romantic. Wait. Did you just say…?"

"YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!" she shrieked, rising out of seat, crouching down, and launching her whole body at him.

He fell back, but caught himself with his arms. She attached herself to him, and joined their lips in a flurry of movement. He could tell that the ring was still in the box, but at the moment, the only thing he could register was kissing the enthusiastic blonde in front of him.

When she pulled away, the tears had stopped, and a small laugh left her mouth. "I want my ring now."

Without saying a word, Freddie released the object from its box and slid it onto Sam's fourth finger on her left hand. He had to admit that the purple gem with diamonds encrusted around it was beyond gorgeous on her.

"You picked our color," she murmured softly, gazing at it, and then at him.

"Well, of course. You didn't think I'd forget, did you?" He quirked his eyebrow, smirking.

"No. You wouldn't do that." Flexing her hand, she couldn't stop the beaming smile that appeared on her face.

All Freddie could do was stare at her. Most of his brain had quit working, leaving him on auto-pilot. Everything was still spinning to him, whirling out of his ability to control it. He honestly felt like a kid on Christmas, and if Sam wouldn't mock him for all of eternity, he would have jumped up and hollered out of pure excitement.

"There you go with the staring again." She drew closer to him and traced her fingers against his cheek. "Aren't you going to say something?"

He shook his head. He knew that if he did, the words would undoubtedly be extremely nubby, and cause Sam to hit him, ridicule him, or both. Since tonight was going well, he didn't want any of those things to happen. So he settled with just looking at his fiancée, with a silly grin on his face.

Trailing her hand downwards, she reached for his hand and took a hold of it. Squeezing it gently, she laughed once more. "I think I've made you speechless. I'm proud of myself."

Freddie was able to find his voice after her comment. "Yes," he croaked. "You're the only one who can do that, by the way. Normally, I'm the person who can charm using words. I've hardly been made into babbling idiot, or a speechless moron, except by you. You have a serious talent, Mrs. Benson." He winked, chuckling.

"Gah! That's going to take some time to get used to. Oh, God! That makes me the second Mrs. Benson. I can't believe your mother will be my in-law," she replied, shuddering.

"She's not that bad. She's actually gotten better in the last few years." He tried to sound serious, but both adults ended up bursting into booming laughs.

Sam had to clutch her stomach to stop her from rolling on the ground. She was laughing so hard that a couple of tears left her eyes. She dabbed at them, getting rid of the stray ones.

"Wow, we're really doing this then. We're getting married." Freddie interrupted their laughter by getting down to business.

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess we are. I hope you don't mind, but can wait for a bit before having it? I mean, I want to do this right. No quick trips to Vegas, or anything like that. A small, but formal wedding would be nice. Obviously, it won't be in a church because we're not too religious, but it has to have everything a basic wedding has. All girls dream of their wedding day, even me. Carly will help me plan it, of course, which will take time anyway. That girl takes forever to make decisions on anything."

"Waiting sounds great. We're going to make this a wedding that will blow other ones out of the water. And it will be one hundred percent us. Our friends and family may have a little input, but it's going to be ours. Purely Sam and Freddie."

"Good. Oh, two more things."

"What now?" he groaned jokingly.

"One, we are having it where I choose because I know the perfect place." Her lips curved into a knowing smile.

"Ah, I see. I think I know where it may be as well. And what's the other thing?"

"I get to make the first vow. If you recall, you made two promises to me in a row. I think I get to make the next one, which will be somewhere in my vow."

"Fair enough. Go right ahead. Anything else you'd like to discuss with me?" From his tone, Sam could tell that he was in a teasing mood.

"Well, I had a question."

"And that would be…?"

"How the hell did you know where to find a piano on this freaking gigantic ship? Plus, how did you whip out that song to play?"

"Technically, that's two questions."

"Benson," she growled. "There's no time for bantering right now. I need answers."

"Okay, fine. If you must know, the piano part was arranged by me. I had to specifically ask the person running the cruise if they had one anywhere around here. The guy said that there were many pianos aboard, and that if I wanted to use one, I could. I told him it was for a proposal and he actually let me play on it for free. I called him to confirm the appointment this morning, while you were in the bathroom. He explained where the room was, so that's why I knew where to find one. As for the song, that my dear, is something I've been practicing for months. Did you forget that my mom has a piano in her apartment?"

"I guess I did. Jeez, don't expect me to memorize what's in your mom's place. I don't want to think about it," she scoffed.

"Anyway, she knew about the proposal and my idea, so she let me practice on it. I Googled the sheet music for the song, and voilia! An amazing song for an amazing girl."

Sam's cheeks flushed at his compliment. "Aw, thank you very much, baby. You did a wonderful job on it all. Definitely swept me off of my feet."

"That was the plan."

After a couple of quiet seconds, Sam couldn't take it anymore. She sprung like a tiger, landing on Freddie, and managed to plant her lips on his. She had him pinned to the floor, with her arms on top of his, gripping them. Both of her legs were on either side of his body. Needlessly to say, he was trapped and loving it. She kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Moving from his lips, she traveled across both cheeks, along his smooth jaw line, and down his neck. As her lips touched his skin, her quick fingers unlatched a few of the buttons on his jacket. Once the last one came loose, she made him rise, so she could push the material off of his shoulders. She was trying to unhook his bow tie, when he stopped her.

"Let's take this to bedroom," he said in a sultry voice, causing her to shiver.

"I don't think we can make it that far," she confessed.

"We will if I carry you and run."

Before she could protest, he was on his feet, lifting her into his arms, bridal style. He grabbed his jacket, and as fast as his legs could take him, he was out the door, racing to their bedroom. Once he reached the destination, he jammed the key in and turned the knob. They barely made it inside and shut the door, when Freddie was slammed into it. Dropping his jacket, he responded to Sam's attack on him. She was using her powerful mouth once again to literally drain all coherent thoughts from him.

Between kisses, he was able to say, "Bed."

She walked backwards, with him still attached to her lips, until her legs hit the foot of the bed. Freddie had to pull away to breath, but then something dawned on him.

"Oh, crap," he muttered.

"What now?" She sounded slightly irritated.

"I was supposed to call Carly and tell her what your answer was! She knew about it, too, and demanded that I get a hold of her as soon as you told me."

"She can wait. If she's waited the whole evening, then she can wait longer. We're both busy at the moment." She smiled her devious smile, the one that Freddie knew was trouble.

Sam pushed him onto the bed, where he lay on his back. She crawled on top, starting to unbutton his white shirt.

"I can't argue with that," he chuckled, while she worked, pressing kisses all over.

"Nope. And you're in for a long night."

And she was right. Freddie, to his great pleasure, got to spend the night and rest of the weekend with his blonde headed demon fiancée.

* * *

The couple enjoyed their fairly long engagement. They had learned from their past experience that it wasn't good to rush into anything, so they didn't. Waiting a few years was just right for them. Of course, Sam was correct in saying that Carly would have her fair share in the wedding. Carly Shay was always horrible at making decisions, so it was just as well that they put off having it for awhile. Still, the girls planned every single day until the last detail was complete.

Freddie mainly watched from afar, leaving the plans to best friends. He was so happy that it had worked out wonderfully. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would be marrying Samantha Puckett. Sure, he would have flashbacks of his adolescent years, when marrying her wasn't an option. But even before the proposal, he would have never seen himself having the guts to pull it off. He quickly learned that when life threw a person a curve ball, they should go along with it. Life threw him the curve ball with Sam, and he took it. There wouldn't be single day where he would regret his choice.

He knew that there was only one girl that could hold and take care of his heart. Only one girl he could spend forever with: Samantha Joy Puckett. And he could not wait until the day where it would be official. He wanted desperately to show everyone that despite all the odds in the world, they belonged together. Because they were Sam and Freddie, best friends who were desperately and madly in love with each other. He wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**A/N: And here's the link to Sam's ring: **

_**Review, please? **_


	7. Chap 7: Forever and Always

**A/N:** **  
**

_Hey, guys! This is the last chapter of iPromise You. I know, I know. It's a sad day for me, too. I'll have a longer author's note at the bottom, but all I have say right now is enjoy!  
_

**Disclaimer:**_  
_

_iCarly is not mine because it belongs to Dan Schneider. I wish I owned it, though. _**  
**

* * *

"You don't marry someone you can live with—you marry the person who you cannot live without." –Anonymous

* * *

"Carly, I'm freaking out here," Sam said, fidgeting in her long, white gown with light purple crystals clinging to the bodice.

Carly sighed and took a step closer to her best friend. She gazed into Sam's ocean blue eyes, which swam with uncertainty.

"What are you afraid of? You love him," she stated softly.

Sam gulped. "I know, but this a big thing. Puckett women aren't really meant to fall in love and stay in love. And I'm trying to break that rule. I'm getting _married_."

The brunette came even closer, closing the distance between her and the bride. Placing her hands on Sam's shoulders, she stared at her straight on. She knew that her best friend needed a pep talk, and she was the only one who could give it.

"Being a Puckett doesn't mean you have to follow your mom's example. I realize it's a shock to you, but you've practically been married to Freddie your whole life. I understand that you're a bit nervous because today's the official day. But it won't be any different now than it already has been. Please don't feel scared or worried. Just smile, walk down the aisle, say your vows, and enjoy your marriage. Everything will work out because I know you two will make it. If Romeo and Juliet were real, they'd be you guys. No one else in the world has a romance that can match yours."

Sam felt unshed tears in her eyes after Carly finished speaking. She knew deep in her heart that everything her Maid of Honor had said was true. She also knew that no one else could make her feel better at the moment than the girl staring at her. Reaching out, she clasped her in a giant hug.

"Thank you," Sam murmured next to Carly's ear. "I really needed that."

Pulling away slightly, Carly smiled. "I know. You'll be fine. Now we need to get you down the aisle. Standing in the parking lot at this beach is no way to spend your wedding. Plus, I'm already supposed to be down there with the rest of the group. Spencer's going to be here in about a minute to give you away. I've got to go, so you stay and wait for him. Deep breaths, Sam. You've got this."

Carly turned and left, while Sam remained in her spot, clutching the sides of her wedding dress. She could feel her body relax a tiny bit. She could do this. She had been imagining this day for years, so it was going to be perfect. It had to be.

Suddenly, a car drove up and parked next to the bride. Out stepped a figure in a skillfully hemmed tuxedo with his hair slicked back. He gave her a warm smile, walking closer. He held his arms out and immediately, Sam found herself in them. She rested her chin on his shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent of cologne mixed with paint.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

She pulled back, grinning. "Yeah. I'm ready."

He laughed. "Good. It'd be bad if you decided to drop out of this last minute."

She punched his arm lightly, giggling. "That's not happening, Spencer. I'm marrying my Freddork today, and nothing is going to stop me."

"Well, I would hope so. By the way, you make a beautiful bride."

Sam could feel heat rise to her cheeks, despite the fact that she was already wearing blush. "Thank you, Spencer. And thank you for giving me away. It means a lot."

"Anything for a little sister of mine. We've pretty much been related since you and Carly became best friends. I had a feeling I'd be doing this job one day, and I'm glad the day is finally here."

Again, Sam's eyes shined with unshed tears. She knew they would have to eventually escape from her eyes, but now wasn't the time. Instead, she smiled in response. Raising her chin a bit, she said, "Shall we get a move on?"

"We shall."

Before Spencer could offer his arm to the lady, he opened his car to grab the bouquet of purple and white roses for her to carry. He handed her the set of flowers, and she took them carefully in her hands. She linked her arm with him a second later. Together, they began a slow march towards the sandy beach.

As they drew nearer, Sam could hear _their_ song. No, it wasn't Wagner's wedding march; it was _Running Away_ by AM. Sam and Freddie had mutually decided on the music because neither wanted to go traditional. They called Wendy, their talented, piano playing friend to come and play at their wedding. Somehow, she was able to drag a baby grand piano to the beach because it was firmly planted into the sand. The melody of the soft song contrasted with the sound of the ocean, creating a musical piece that would be unforgettable.

Sam took in the setting around her. Near the water, there were about one hundred white and purple chairs set up in rows. Everyone stood up when they saw her, smiling cheerfully. Her eyes scanned over all of the familiar faces, taking each one in. They were dressed in amazing dresses and suits, looking their best.

When she came to the front set of rows, she caught sight of her mother, sitting primly in a navy blue dress. Pam Puckett turned her head to stare at her eldest daughter. Her choppy blonde hair had grown out so that it was past shoulder length, and her blue eyes seemed bright. She didn't look like the slob that she once had been so many years ago. She looked put-together and proud, with a smile on her face that stretched on for miles.

Sam couldn't help but feel happiness swell in her heart. She knew her mom was proud of her for doing this. Pam could never express her feelings through words, but the look she gave her said it all.

Next to Mrs. Puckett sat Mrs. Benson, who gave a curt nod to Sam. However, Sam could tell that beyond the formal exterior of her soon-to-be mother-in-law, lay a gentle-hearted woman. Over the years, Sam had grown a lot closer to Mrs. Benson, proving that she wasn't just some "delinquent." Once Sam had shown her more mature side to Freddie's mom, Mrs. Benson instantly felt better about her son being with Sam. It had taken some time, but it had worked out.

She continued to move along, catching a glimpse of her stunning twin sister. Melanie was, of course, a bridesmaid, standing in her white high heels and knee-length dark purple gown. As Sam passed by, Melanie winked and whispered so only she could hear, "Bonne chance."

She had to suppress a giggle at her sister's words. She knew that meant "good luck," in French. It was something she had picked up from Melanie when they occasionally saw each other when Mel came to the States for a visit. Normally, the slightly younger Puckett resided in Paris, still working with her fashion company. Sam was relieved that her twin could get the time off of work for this. But then again, Melanie did say, "If they don't let me off, I'm going to murder them with a swatch of silk and a sewing machine."

Sam spun her head to the right to look at Gibby. He appeared absolutely dashing in his groomsmen tuxedo with satin purple lining. He gave Sam a huge grin, raising his hands to flash the "thumbs up" sign. She felt a tug at her heart at the gesture, knowing how much the goofball meant to her. It had been a while since she had seen him, and now that she had the chance to, she realized how much she missed him. He would always be "Gibeeh" to her, no matter how many years had gone by.

Finally, she got to Carly. Handing her bouquet of roses to the Maid of Honor, she felt her lips curve into a smile that was only reserved for her best friend. Sam peered into the brown eyes of the one person she could count on for anything. It had been that way since they were little kids. Sam suddenly saw an image in her head of young Carly, on the first day they met. She wanted to laugh because it was a sandwich that had brought them together. She couldn't believe that the elegant woman standing before her was the same one she had seen at school that day. Carly stood gorgeously in the dark purple dress, raven hair flowing in ringlets around her. Her snow white skin was flushed with a light pink color, as her lips arched into a smile in response to Sam.

In a low voice, Carly mumbled, "You can do this. I love you."

"I love you, too," Sam whispered. "Always."

Finally, Sam and Spencer reached Freddie. When the bride laid eyes on the groom, she couldn't focus on anything else. Her breath was taken away at the sight of him in his tuxedo with a single purple rose attached to the lapel. His chocolate brown eyes reflected the warmth that was coursing through him. She had never seen him so utterly handsome or happy. Immediately, her heart soared, reminding her that without a doubt, this was the right man for her. No one else in the world could make her feel the way that he could.

Just like with Carly, Sam had a quick flashback in her head of the day she and Freddie met. She had a hard time believing that man waiting for her was the same little boy who had bumped into her at this very beach. It was the same boy whom she had spent practically her whole life with. The same one who had been her first friend, her first "enemy," her first kiss, her first love, her first real heartbreak, and the first person to mend all of the cracks and bruises her heart had gone through. He was everything to her and she knew that she couldn't live without him.

The next thing Sam knew, the woman helping them get married said something. She wasn't an actual minister, judge, or priest, but she did have a license. Actually, she was a cousin of Socko's. And her name was Mary.

"Who gives this woman to this man?" Mary asked, looking at Spencer, Sam, and Freddie with a kindness in her green eyes.

"I do," Spencer replied softly, almost as if he was having trouble letting go.

He leaned in then, placing a gentle kiss on Sam's cheek. Even though he was extremely joyful at the moment, there was a twinge of sadness in him. He had seen Samantha Puckett grow up right in front of him, and now was the moment where she wasn't just little sister to him anymore. She'd always be close to him, but now she was a strong woman that could definitely stand on her own.

He placed Sam's hand in Freddie's open one. As soon as he did that, he stepped to the right, next to Gibby. He was the Best Man, after all, so he had to be up in the front with the rest of them.

As soon as Sam touched Freddie, she melted. She had no idea how she was going to get through the rest of the wedding. Right now, all she wanted to do was be in his arms, breathing in his comforting scent, and bringing her lips to his. But she knew that was going to come, eventually. First she had to endure the standard things for weddings.

"I love you," she mouthed to Freddie.

"And I love you," he said, looking at her with so much love and adoration that she had to be careful, or else she'd fling herself at him.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Fredward Benson and Samantha Puckett," Mary began.

The ceremony went on smoothly, just like any normal wedding. The only exception was that their wedding didn't have too many religious aspects to it because they weren't in a church, and neither were really into that.

When it came time for their vows, Sam swallowed thickly. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She had practiced her vows all of yesterday and this morning. Only she knew what she was going to say; no one else knew. She wanted it to be surprise, so she hadn't told a soul.

_Here we go_, she thought to herself. She took both of Freddie's hands in hers and gazed into those pools of chocolate that were his eyes.

Feeling her heart flutter, she said, "Fredward Karl Benson, I can't believe we're actually getting married."

A chorus of soft laughs sounded from everyone watching. Sam smiled briefly before continuing.

"I'm not really surprised that we're getting married because we've been through so much together. Most people think that we met when we were 11, when you moved into the apartment across from Carly's. But you and I both know that's not the truth."

Quiet gasps came from most of the people at the realization that the two people before them knew each other a lot longer than expected. Mrs. Benson was the only one who didn't appear to be shocked by Sam's announcement. She remembered the day her son met the love of his life.

"Anyway," Sam pressed on. "We first met at this beach when were 7. Everything that happened that day is still fresh in my mind. It was like it occurred yesterday, but it's actually been 24 years. I thought you were incredibly nubby when I laid my eyes on you, but when we talked, I felt a little spark or something. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but soon found out it was chemistry. That chemistry has led us to both good and bad things. It's true that we argue like cats and dogs, but it's also true that we love each other to pieces. Freddie, I cannot even describe to you how much I honestly love you. You know that falling has been a very difficult journey for me. The reason why it's so hard for me to let anyone in my life goes back to my dad. He was the first male to hurt me, and I guess it kind of stuck with me. But you were didn't do that to me. You healed a part of me that had been broken for a long time. And despite the fact that we broke up at age 17, I somehow knew things were going to work out again. Luckily, I was right and here we are now. We're getting married, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be able to grow old with you, Nub. Forever and always." Sam smiled then, feeling breathless and exhilarated.

Freddie was trying hard not to cry at her words. Everything she had said literally melted his heart. He knew she had a problem with being romantic and voicing her true feelings, especially in public. But she had done an amazing job of that just now. He was about to open his mouth to say his vow, when she stopped him.

"I'm not done yet. I know that was long, but I have to finish," she said, with a slight teasing tone to her voice.

The audience erupted into laughter. They knew that it was such a Sam thing to say. Even on her wedding day, she would find a way to be sarcastic and witty.

"As I was saying, I have one more thing to add to that extremely long vow. Look, we have our tradition of making promises to each other. Ever since the day we met, we've made promises for every big moment we've shared. Freddie, I promise you that I will always be your friend. Through thick and thin, you know you can count on me for anything. I'm far from perfect, but if you really need me for something, I will be there in a second. I promise you that I will tolerate you, even if we are both acting at our worst. We're going to have problems, for sure, because we're Sam and Freddie. We're complicated and as try as we might, there are still going to be fights and arguments. But we will get through those because I know we can. I promise you that I will stay loyal to you. No matter what happens, my heart will only belong to you. No one else can have it because it's yours. It's been yours since we met. And lastly, I promise you that I will never stop loving you. Even if the world ends tomorrow, I will continue loving you. Even if you drive me to the point where all I do is scream at you and threaten that I'll leave, I'll still love you. I wouldn't be the same without you, Freddie. I'm so grateful we ended up meeting the first time, and then meeting again years later. I guess Fate wants us together after all."

At traditional weddings, the audience would stay pretty quiet until the end. But at Sam and Freddie's wedding, everyone burst into applause and rounds of "Awwws!" They understood and were amazed by how much Sam had matured over the years. Today seemed to prove that flawlessly.

Freddie really had to contain the tears that were about to spill from his eyes. He had to suck in a breath of air, so he could talk without a wobbly voice. He was incredibly proud of Sam for doing this, but now wasn't the time to tell her that. He was looking forward to the after-part of their wedding, where they could be alone.

He opened his mouth once more to say something, but nothing came out. _Damn it!_ He thought to himself. _She's made me speechless again._

Everyone, including the woman standing next to him, could see that he was struggling with his words. Sam smirked, realizing that she was the cause of Freddie's silence. She would have enjoyed it a bit more, had it not been for the fact that speaking was kind of vital at the moment.

He was able to snap out of it a few seconds later. "Sam, I really don't know what to say after that."

Another chorus of laughs came from the viewers of the wedding.

"Seriously, you are the only one that can make me speechless. And it drives me insane because I want to say a lot of things right now, but I can't since it's not enough. What you just said completely blows my words out of the water. I worked on my vow for weeks, to make sure it would be perfect for today. But I'm pleasantly surprised to find myself not needing to use what I had planned to say. Instead, all I'm going to tell you is that I love you so much that it hurts sometimes. No one else in the entire world has a hold on me like you do. I may have your heart, but you have mine. You're the only one I trust to keep it safe. God, I love you, Sam. Forever and always," he finished, beaming with true happiness.

Once again, each person said, "Awww!" because the moment was too adorable. Even Mary had to hold her hand to her heart because she was touched. Never had she seen such a sentimental, beautiful wedding as this one. She knew what was next, so she gave a brief nod towards a person sitting in a chair in the back row.

A little boy with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes in a well-fitted suit hopped out of this seat, grabbing the purple pillow that lay next to him. His name was Benjamin and he was Freddie's ten-year-old cousin. He started walking towards the front, clutching the object in his hands tightly. When he got to the couple, he held out the pillow, smiling enthusiastically.

Sam couldn't help but giggle. She bent down to peck his cheek, whispering in his ear, "Thanks, kid. I'll treat you to a big ice cream sundae later, okay?"

He nodded, flashing her a toothy grin.

Without further ado, Mary asked, "Do you, Fredward Benson, take Samantha Puckett, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?"

He didn't hesitate to respond. "I do."

He took one of the gleaming silver rings sitting on top of the pillow and slid it onto Sam's fourth finger on her left hand.

As soon as he completed the task, Mary asked Sam the same question. "Do you, Samantha Puckett, take Fredward Benson, to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as you both shall live?"

Sam could feel tears well in her eyes. She knew that it was time for them to escape. "I do," she choked out, reaching for the ring to place it on Freddie's finger.

Mary smiled at the next part. Turning to the rest of the people, she said, "I now pronounce Mr. and Mrs. Fredward Benson." She returned her attention to Sam and Freddie. "You may now kiss the bride."

Before Sam could register anything, she was in Freddie's arms. His arms clutched her around the waist, as his soft lips crushed against her own. She could feel him pouring his heart out into this kiss, saying everything he couldn't earlier. She kissed back gleefully, but knew that if they didn't stop soon, they would continue kissing for ages. And that might disturb some of the people watching.

She pulled back reluctantly with tears of joy running down her face. Freddie reached out to wipe some of them away. They both turned to their friends and family, finding that the large group all stood up and were clapping.

"Are you ready, Mrs. Benson?" Freddie murmured.

Sam understood the double meaning of his words. Of course he was asking if she was ready to leave, so they could start getting ready for the reception. But he was asking if she was ready to face the world with him, to honor the real meaning of forever and always.

"I am," Sam answered, grabbing her husband's hand, as they made their way down the aisle.

* * *

The reception went wonderfully, much to Sam and Freddie's amazement. Being them, they thought there were going to be some complications here and there, but it was all smooth sailing. The food was tremendous (the couple picked the best seafood restaurant in town), the music was fabulous (they decided to have a DJ come and spin their favorite songs), and the speeches made by their friends and family caused them to laugh and smile the entire night. Neither wanted it to end, but eventually it did.

The couple was now back at the beach, holding hands as they walked along the coast line. The place was deserted except for them, which they were grateful for. They were just enjoying each other's company, soaking in the familiar feel of the warm sand between their toes, the peaceful sound of the waves crashing and rolling, and the strong aroma of salt in the air.

"I'm glad I'm finally out of that dress," Sam laughed softly. "It was pretty and all, but I don't do formal."

"I'm aware of that," Freddie chuckled, glancing at his wife. She was currently wearing white shorts, a turquoise flyaway cardigan, and brown tank top underneath. He looked down at his outfit, which consisted of a pair of khaki shorts and black polo. "I'm glad I'm back to wearing normal clothes, too. Tuxedos aren't the most comfortable things in the world."

"But you sure looked good in it." She smiled, swinging their joined hands back and forth.

"Thanks, baby. Although, I'd say you were the one that looked incredible. Mel and Carly did an awesome job of helping you pick out your dress."

"It does help to have an OCD best friend and fashion obsessed sister."

"I suppose it would."

"Can you believe we're actually married, Freddie? That we're officially husband and wife?"

"Don't act so surprised, Princess." He rolled his eyes, gently knocking his shoulder against hers. "I feel like I've been married to you for 24 years."

"That's funny because Carly said the same thing to me earlier about us. She mentioned it was like I had been married to you my whole life. I guess she's right."

"She is right. What is a bit surprising is that we're the first of our friends to get married. I mean, we're in our thirties, and we're still first! I always thought that either Carly or Melanie would go before us, but apparently not. What's up with that anyway?"

Sam giggled. "Carly's got some guy in New York. They've been hanging out a lot, but they aren't an official couple yet. She talks about him now and then, but I think she's good with being friends for now. She's busy with her job, so guys aren't on her list of priorities at the moment. As for Mel, didn't you see the way she was looking at Gibby today?"

Freddie's eyes widened dramatically. "Gibby and Melanie?" he gasped.

"Uh, yeah. C'mon, dude. Please don't tell me you were too blind to see them staring at each other during the ceremony and the reception."

He slapped his free hand to his forehead. Groaning, he replied, "I guess I am that blind. But now that you mention it, they would be kind of perfect for one another. Except, she lives in France and he lives in Florida. How are they going to make it if they're in two different countries?"

A twinkle appeared in Sam's eye. "Well, we could help them by playing matchmaker."

He knew the look she was giving him was trouble. "Oh, no. We are _not_ meddling in your sister's and my best friend's lives. This is not happening."

She pouted in response. "Oh, come on, Freddie. Please? It'll be fun, and since we're married, it's only fair that we have to get the others going. You know it will be worth it."

He gazed at her skeptically. This was a bad idea, and the rational side of his personality was telling him to not give into her. However, the part of him that wanted to do anything to please her was stronger, pushing his rational thoughts aside. Surrendering with a groan, he agreed.

"Fine. We'll help them."

"Yay! Thank you, baby." She unwound her hand from his to throw her arms around his shoulders. Leaning in, she placed her lips against his, kissing him with as much passion as she could muster.

He drew away after several moments to catch his breath. "I think we need to get home. It is our wedding night, after all." He smirked, waggling his eyebrows.

"I couldn't agree with you more. Let's race to the car, though. The winner gets a massage from the loser before we start."

Freddie rolled his eyes again. "Are we really back to being 7, Sam?" he sighed.

"Yeah, we are. You just don't want to run because you'll know you'll lose."

"That is not true! I'm perfectly capable of beating you in running."

"We'll see about that. You in or out?"

He grunted, nodding his head. "I'm in, but only to prove that after all of these years, I can actually win this time. I was planning on giving you a massage anyway."

"Well, thanks. But you are so going down. On the count of three."

"One," Freddie began.

"Two."

"Three!"

And just like that day twenty-four years ago, Sam shot straight out in front of Freddie. It was only a few short minutes later when she reached the car, brushing her fingertips against it. Freddie continued to trudge along, until he got to her. He was completely out of breath, bending over with his hands on his knees.

"How the hell do you manage to do that, Sam? I've been working out since high school and yet you still beat me!" he wheezed out.

"I told you, I'm a ninja." She winked, patting his back. "Maybe you should do a few laps in the gym. That way, maybe you can beat me someday."

He narrowed his eyes. "I hate you, Sam Benson."

Her smile lit up her face as she said, "I love you, Freddie Benson"

"Forever?"

"And always."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this story. It has been my absolute pleasure to write it and I hope everyone has enjoyed it. I would like to give a special thanks to my great friend, Moviepal. He's been my biggest supporter through everything. If you guys get a chance, check out some of his work. He's an awesome writer, but more importantly, a terrific person. You definitely want him on your side.  
_


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